


Saying Yes

by LanaSerra



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, BAMF Castiel (Supernatural), Canon Compliant, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, Fluff, Hand Jobs, Homophobia, John Winchester's A+ Parenting, Light Angst, M/M, Minor Character Death, Minor Rowena MacLeod/Sam Winchester, Oral Sex, Past Relationship(s), Possession, Post-Season/Series 13, Rimming, Rutting, Sappy, Smut, Wing Kink, really you have to squint, rowena macleod/gabriel - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-18 03:45:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 29
Words: 41,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17573246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LanaSerra/pseuds/LanaSerra
Summary: Everything finally seemed to be going Dean’s way after he’d been saved from Michael’s control. Sure, the Bunker definitely felt a little more complicated than he was used to with all the new residents that came back with him and Sam from the other reality, but it had nothing on how much more complicated the latest new arrival had made things. The familiar face changed nothing and everything. Now Dean must survive threats from both inside and out, not only to protect the Bunker, those he loves and his fragile still-new relationship with Cas, but also his very peace of mind.





	1. Dean

**Author's Note:**

> So I started writing this fic for NaNoWriMo back in November, long before we had news that John Winchester was coming back to Supernatural for the 300th episode. Once he'd been announced, I knew I had to post mine before the episode came out, and so after an exhaustive four months, it is finally complete. 
> 
> It was inspired by a conversation I was having with [Spandwiches](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spandwiches/pseuds/spandwiches) that eventually became the best Beta'ing team I have ever had the privilege to be part of. Without her, this fic would not exist, in any form. With her, it is so much better and so much _more_ than it ever would have been on my own. 
> 
> Thank you, my dear, I could not have done it without you! (You must go read her fic [Sweat](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17572610) that she wrote at the same time I wrote mine! - hers is MUCH fluffier than mine and you get to see Flight!Attendant Cas!)
> 
> Also to our fantastic Cheerleader Tina, the 'Sparkle Hurricane' for all of her words of support and love during the last couple of months! Your endless cheer and gifs of JFA (Jensen Fucking Ackles) were much appreciated and extremely inspiring~
> 
> Now on to the fic! Enjoy~

The Bunker was a rush of noise and movement when they returned; Dean still hadn’t gotten used how Sam had organized the new Hunters into a well-oiled machine while Dean was …away. He was entirely unprepared for his home to be overrun and invaded by strangers. Or at least most of them. He raised a hand to wave at Bobby as the older Hunter wandered past. Bobby nodded and smiled at him before continuing on his way. Dean knew he wasn’t his Bobby, but it still did his heart good to see the man hale and whole and alive. The rest of these Hunters though…. A girl nearly crashed into him as he stepped up into the War Room. Dean sighed. He just wanted to go lie down in peace.

“Sam! Dean!” Castiel called as walked over to them. Their eyes met as Castiel catalogued their injuries. A moment later he had an armful of Angel. Dean hugged him back tightly, enjoying the warm, steady strength of his lover. He knew he’d never grow tired of it.

“How did it go?” Castiel asked Sam from his place in Dean’s arms. He pulled back to take them both in. _Are you injured?_ Sat in the air between them.

“We’re fine Cas, not even a scratch,” Dean said with a tired smile,

_You worry too much._

_Well one of us has to._

Sam nodded. “It went well. Mom was right on the intel. Demons seem to be popping up in random groups, trying to organize.” He gave a bitter smile “You’d think they’d know better by now.”

“You would think” Castiel responded dryly, stepping back out of Dean’s arms. Dean snagged his hand before he could get too far away and rubbed his thumb across Castiel’s knuckles. Cas sent him a warm smile. He hadn’t been gone for more than four days, and they’d spoken every night, but he’d still missed the Angel like a missing limb. This thing between them, so new and yet, so old and familiar. Dean had been hesitant at first showing PDAs in front of Sam, Mary, Bobby and the rest of the Hunters, but after his first few hesitant touches lit the angel up like he was atop a Christmas tree, Dean couldn’t get enough of it.

“Chief, we’ve had more sightings!” Maggie broke into the conversation, her eyes looking only to Sam for instruction.

Sam nodded. “Ok, I’ll be with you in a sec.”

The young Hunter nodded and turned away.

Sam turned back to his brother and Castiel, locked in one of their silent conversations. “I left Mom a message just before we left so we should hear back soon. Dean, why don’t you take a load off, I’ll fill in the troops?”

Dean blinked and rubbed his hand down his face before focusing on his brother. “Yeah alright, _Chief!_ ”

“I told them not to call me that!” Sammy protested, but Dean just slapped him on the shoulder and headed towards his room, wrapping an arm around Castiel and pulling him along as he went.


	2. Cas

Dean dumped his duffle at the end of the bed and sat down heavily. Castiel stood in the doorway, watching him for a moment before stepping inside and closing the door. That was the one good thing that had happened after Dean had broken free of Michael, Castiel standing on this side of the door. While Castiel had always been there for the Hunter previously, it was different now, _they_ were different now.

Castiel sat down beside him, their shoulders brushing together. “You’re hurting. Let me heal you.”

Dean started to argue but then stopped and nodded. Castiel shifted and raised his hand to Dean’s forehead, before moving his hand down to cup his face. Dean looked into his eyes as Castiel sent his grace sweeping through the Hunter’s body, relieving him of all his aches and pains. Dean’s eyes fluttered closed and he shivered. He leaned his forehead against Castiel’s.

“Thanks,” he murmured.

“Of course, Dean.” _Anything for you._

They sat leaning against each other for a long time. Finally, Dean yawned and stretched.

“You should sleep,” Castiel said softly.

Dean nodded and pulled away from Castiel to pull off his layers, stripping down to his henley and boxers.

“Stay?”

“Of course.” Cas smiled. There was no place he’d rather be. Castiel slid out of his trench coat, suit jacket, shirt and tie before folding them and placing them on the chair. He removed his shoes and pants placing them with his other clothes before moving back to the bed. Dean had been very vocal about these items not belonging in bed the first time Castiel had joined him there, and so they had been removed every time since. Sometimes removing them was the best part. As soon as Castiel lay down, the Hunter pulled him close, wrapping his arms around the Angel.

“G’night Cas.”

“Sleep well Dean, I will guard your dreams.” Castiel smiled and kissed Dean’s forehead, his arms lightly holding him around the middle. Dean was asleep within moments, a look of contentment on his face.


	3. Dean

**Three Months Prior**

Dean came to strapped to a chair in the dungeon, anti-angel symbols all around him, his brother covered in blood beside him (not Sam’s, his mind supplied helpfully) and Castiel anxiously standing just outside the circle, blade in hand.

“Dean?” Cas asked softly.

“Yeah, yeah it’s me… Cas…it’s me.”

Whatever had happened before he’d woken up must have been wild. He only remembered bits and pieces of the conversation he’d had with Michael before he’d thrown him out when Cas had freed him from the fantasy prison within his own mind. There had been a lot of screaming and swearing, and a confession.

Sam’s face floated in front of his momentarily, filled with worry and then relief.

“Dean!”

“Heya, Sammy.”

The bonds on his wrists and ankles were loosened and he heard murmurings from the other people in the room. Why were there so many people? Sam helped him to stand and together they moved to the edge of the circle. Sam stopped, eyeing Dean.  
Dean nodded, he wasn’t entirely sure if he could stand on his own right now, but he knew what needed to be done. Sam let him go, hovering to make sure he could catch him if he fell. Dean hobbled over the holy oil fire lines under his own power and sunk into Cas’s waiting arms.

“I’ve got you,” Cas whispered into his hair.

Dean heard more noise around him and his brother’s voice taking charge, calling out directions and assignments before turning back to him and Cas.

“Cas, can you get him out of here?”

“Of course.”

After that Dean had been patted and hugged by many people including Mary, Bobby, Charlie, and even Rowena, as Cas manoeuvred him out of the dungeon, quietly reminding others that Dean needed to sleep, eat and heal before anything else. Cas half carried Dean to his room, his left side freezing in the air of the Bunker, his right aflame with Cas’s proximity. Had the confession only happened in his head? Dean glanced at Cas as he was half carried down the hallway. The Angel was being very gentle with him, but he was also focused on his task. He hadn’t said anything or insinuated he’d heard. Maybe he was just being helpful as usual.

Cas helped him into bed before piercing him with those eyes. “Stay here, I’ll go get you something to eat.”

Dean could all but nod, feeling even colder without the heat of the Angel next to him. Maybe Cas hated him for confessing his love and breaking the unspoken rule of not talking about this thing between them. Or maybe he hated Dean for breaking his word and saying yes to Michael after all of these years. Or maybe Cas didn’t feel the same but didn’t want to hurt Dean either so he was distancing himself as a result. He hadn’t responded after all …right?

 

**** (Excerpt from [Bisexual Michael Dean's Tumblr](https://bisexualmichaeldean.tumblr.com/))

“Cas?”

 

_“I’m here, Dean.”_

 

“If I don’t make it out of this–”

 

**“You won’t-”**

 

_“You will.”_

 

“If I don’t…thanks. For everything.”

 

_“You don’t need to thank–”_

 

“And I love you.”

 

_“Dean.”_

 

“Tell Sam I love him too, obviously. But that one was for you.”

 

_“You can do this.”_

 

“I know. Now, Mikey?”

 

**“You will burn for this!”**

 

“Get out of my _fucking_ head”  
****

 

No, Cas had not said it in return. He’d encouraged him to fight, but not led him on or made false promises. After all these years, Dean had finally confessed, and Castiel had - what? Side-stepped it?

Dean heard rather than saw Cas return, as he couldn’t bring himself to look up at the Angel. Cas placed a tray over his lap with the most amazing smelling soup and his stomach grumbled loudly in response. Well, at least the rejection hadn’t upset his need for food. He only made it halfway through the soup, with the Angel looking on, before his vision had blurred with tears.

“I’m… I’m sorry Cas.”

“For what?”

“For … for saying Yes to Michael. It… I thought… I thought it was the right thing to do.”

“I know you did,” Cas said and moved to sit beside his legs on the bed, placing a hand over Dean’s covered knee.

“I understand if you hate me for it… I hate me for it.” Dean’s hands curled into fists on the tray. Out with it, Winchester. It was now or never. “But Cas I can’t live without you, ok? I mean, even if you don’t want to be around me anymore, can you stay here? In the Bunker? I just… when you were in the empty, I … I was… lost… I need you.” Dean could feel his face burning, but he might as well put all of his cards on the table if this was to be the end of it.

“I could never hate you, Dean Winchester!” Cas said vehemently, in a voice that used to roll the heavens. “Never.” Cas hissed as he reached over and took the tray off Dean’s lap, placing it on the side table before sitting closer to him on the bed. “Dean, please look at me.”

Dean, unable to refuse Cas any request finally met his eyes. Instead of anger, he saw compassion, and…

Cas smiled. “I love you too.” He leaned in, and kissed him.

It only took Dean a moment of shock, as Cas’s chapped lips touched his, before he had wrapped his arms around the Angel, pulled him closer, and kissed him back.

 

***Present***

 

When Dean woke the next morning, it was to Castiel’s amused blue eyes. 

“What?”

“You were talking in your sleep”

“I was not.” Dean harrumphed, his ears turning red. He’d been having a good dream, a very good dream. He blushed further. Cas had probably seen the dream he’d been having…right? The whole ‘guarding his dreams’ thing. How involved did Cas get when he guarded anyways??

“Uhhh…what did I say?”

“Nothing I didn’t already know,” Cas replied simply, in the way that drove Dean nuts.

“Is that so?”

“It is,” Cas reaffirmed, his eyes sparkling with mischief.

“Bratty Angel.” Dean scoffed with a smile before leaning in to kiss him. Their kisses were soft and sweet, and nothing like they had been in the dream. It wasn’t the first time they had kissed, far from it, but it still felt new after ten years of longing and staring and missed opportunities. Dean pulled back and smiled, resting his head back into the pillow. Cas smiled back at him.

“We could, uh….” Dean said, gesturing between them.

“Continue where we left off in your dream?” Cas smirked, running his fingers lightly down Dean’s side. “If you’re feeling better.” He smiled.

Dean grinned. “Definitely.”

He surged forward to kiss Cas, wrapping his arms around the Angel and shamelessly rubbing his morning wood against Cas’s hip. Cas moaned softly, deepening the kiss as his hands fell to Dean’s hips, his fingers finding skin under Dean’s t-shirt.

They broke apart swiftly when Sam banged on Dean’s door. “We got something guys, get up.”

“Something’s already up!” Dean called back.

“Gross, Dean. Meeting in 5!” Sam called back.

Dean hung his head, swearing about cockblocking little brothers.

Cas huffed a laugh. “It’ll keep.”

“Says you,” Dean growled and pushed himself up.

Cas sat up and wrapped his arms around the Hunter, nibbling softly on his ear.  
“I could take you apart in five minutes, Dean. But you know we both prefer if I take my time.” He murmured in Dean’s ear before sliding out of bed behind him.

Dean gaped at him, blood rushing south.

Castiel smirked, going from sleep-rumpled underthings to fully dressed in a blink. “Don’t keep us waiting too long, Dean,” he said before leaving the room.

“Cas!” Dean snarled, but the Angel was already laughing down the hallway.

 

~

 

10 minutes later, Dean made his way into the War Room, two mugs of coffee in his hands. The table was completely surrounded by Hunters, the top littered with paper, books and laptops. Sam stood at the far end. 

“Nice of you to join us, Dean.”

“Had to get Cas his coffee,” Dean supplied blithely. _And think boner-killing thoughts._

Sam raised an eyebrow but didn’t point out how the Angel didn’t need food, water, or caffeine in any form. Dean pushed a mug of coffee into Cas’s hands. Cas flashed him a gummy smile. “Thank you, Dean.”

“No problem, Cas.” Dean smiled back, squeezing Cas’s hand briefly before turning to take his seat beside him, and adding,. “or it wouldn’t have been, had these heathens refilled the coffee machine when it was empty instead of leaving it on without grinds in it.”

A few of the new recruits had the decency to look away, while Bobby and Sam just rolled their eyes at him.

“Are you done?”

“Course, carry on, _Chief_ ,” Dean said, making a flourishing motion with his hand.

Sam sighed and shot a look at Castiel that said “ _Really_?”

Cas shrugged in response. _You really think I have that much control_?

“Anyways,” Sam continued, “when was the last time you used your phone?”

“Uhh...yesterday,” Dean replied. “When I called Cas after the hunt. Why?”

“You may want to turn it back on after this meeting. We have been flooded with calls about werewolves, vampires, shapeshifters, skinwalkers, djinn, wendigoes, ghouls, wraiths, arachne and all sorts of other monsters coming out the woodwork, all attacking and killing indiscriminately and without subterfuge. We have reports of people just up and leaving their lives without warning or hesitation, in numbers we haven’t seen since the apocalypse.”

“Which one?” Cas asked.

“The first one. And according to reports, there’s no infighting.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Dean said shaking his head. “These species don’t work together. Ever.”

“Unless they have a common goal?” Bobby suggested.

“What goal?” Jack asked.

“Us,” Sam said, nodding to Bobby and the new Hunters. “We’ve been so efficient lately, so well-organized, united under a common goal in a way Hunters never have before.”

“Not to say what you’ve been doing here isn’t great, but we’re talking about Alphas who have hated each other for thousands of years. You think they’re just up and suddenly getting along, for what? A few organized Hunters?” Dean said with disbelief.

“But it makes sense, Dean. Alphas are able to compel their children. It would explain the large numbers and the lack of infighting,” Sam argued.

“It could be Alphas? I mean we don’t actually know their motivation but the calls are coming in from all over the States, right Sam? They’re not just focused on Kansas, ” Jack reasoned. “It might not have anything to do with us.”

Dean smiled with pride at the Nephilim. He really was taking to this being a human Hunter thing better than Dean thought he would. Dean glanced at Sam who beamed back at him, clearly feeling the same way.

“Well, we could call Garth to confirm…see if he’s had any urges to kill us lately.” Sam mused.

“Or, it could be Michael,” Cas said quietly, turning all of the heads in the room to him. “Especially since the vampire and shapeshifter Alphas are already dead.”

“But… I thought we got rid of Michael?” Dean asked looking around the room for confirmation.

No one would meet his eye.

“We removed him from your body, but we could not kill him,” Cas said gently, resting his hand on Dean’s forearm.

Dean shook his head, upset. “Well, he can definitely compel monsters, even those without Alphas. Shit. How many are we talking here? Hundreds? Thousands?…. Fuck. You should have killed me when you had the chance.”

“That was my vote!” Jack piped up, happy to contribute, before shrinking back into his chair as many sets of eyes turned to glare at him.

“That wasn’t an option, Dean,” Sam admonished.

“It should have been. You and I both know that.” Dean retorted, looking back and forth between his brother and his Angel.

“That’s enough, Dean,” Cas growled at him. “This isn’t your fault.”

“Isn’t it though? I’m the one who said Yes.” _I’m the one who fucked up - again_.

“And I’m the one who would have killed anyone who tried to take you out!” Cas said threateningly, his presence suddenly larger than his body could have managed on its own. Dean looked up into Cas’s eyes, stormy with determination. The rest of the room seemed to shrink and grow fuzzy around him.

“And I would have helped him,” Sam said, momentarily pulling his brother’s gaze away from Cas. “In any event, it does us no good to argue about the past. We don’t know that Michael is involved with this, the Alphas could be moving on their own, or it could be something else entirely. We need a plan to deal with what we do know moving forward.”

The brothers stared at each other, neither willing to back down.

“Are they always like this?” Maggie whispered.

“From what I’ve seen, yes,” Bobby muttered back.

“This is an all hands on deck situation,” Sam said, breaking the non-verbal argument with his brother to address the Hunters gathered in the room. “We need every able-bodied Hunter out there fighting and reporting back - we need to warn all of our civilian friends to be on the lookout and to protect those around them. Once everyone has been contacted, I want teams of three to head out and hit the biggest spots so far, Chicago, Dallas and—” A loud bang at the Bunker door cut Sam off mid-sentence.

A heartbeat later, everyone was on the feet, weapons drawn, moving cautiously towards the staircase. The door opened part way and Mary stepped inside. Her hands were up in a placating gesture and she wore a grim but determined face. No one moved.

“Hey… umm... I have someone with me. If he can get through the warding then we need to talk.”

Sam’s eyebrows raised a fraction higher. Cas gripped his blade tighter standing shoulder to shoulder with Dean. Dean could hear his heartbeat in his ears, the roar of it filling the silent room. Who would Mary have brought to the Bunker? Someone she was unsure of and yet allowed herself to turn her back to them?

Mary stepped aside into the stairwell and a man walked through the door.

“Hey, guys.” John Winchester stood at the top of the stairs, smiling, no older than the day he died.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved how [Bisexual Demon Dean's](http://bisexualdemondean.tumblr.com/) headache, [Bisexual Michael Dean](https://bisexualmichaeldean.tumblr.com/) Tumblr Story went and had to include it as my head!canon as how Dean forced Michael out. For a full understanding of what happened to Dean while under Michael's control, I would _highly_ recommend reading the full thing!


	4. Dean

“Dad?” Dean asked.

“It can’t be…” Sam said at the same time.

“I tested him, he passed everything. And he walked through the front door, on his own,” Mary replied with a shrug. “I figured Cas could check.”

Sam and Dean both went rigid and glanced at each other, their eyes conveying the words they couldn’t say just then.

_Dad can never know what Cas is._

_Agreed._

Sam nodded thoughtfully and turned back to the group. “Everyone, you know your tasks, go get on with them. Dean, Bobby, please stay.”

Dean started to sweat as his stomach turned to lead, his fingernails pressing into the palms of his hands to try and stop the tremors. It was all he could do to whisper to Cas: “Go, I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Dean,” Cas whispered back in disagreement.

Dean tore his eyes away from his father to look at Cas. He whispered urgently “Go. Please. Hurry.” Any second now John would be fully down the stairs, taking the full measure of everyone in the room.

Dean could see Cas waring with himself to argue and stay by his side, but thankfully something in his face convinced Cas to go. He nodded once and quickly ducked out with the other Hunters. They shuffled quickly and quietly out of the room.

“What’s this? Sammy’s in charge here? Dean?” John looked down at his older son.

“It’s a team effort here, Dad. A lot has changed since you died.” Dean said defiantly, not looking away from his father.

“I can see that,” John said as he walked up to Sam at the head of the table. “What, no hug for your father?”

Neither Sam nor Dean moved. John’s smile faded, while Mary looked back and forth between her husband and her two grown boys, a troubled frown on her face. Nobody moved and the tension rose until John spotted Bobby and moved around Sam and the table to greet him.

“Bobby! Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes, old man!” John moved as if to slap Bobby on the shoulder, but Bobby shifted away from him.

“Actually, I’m, er...not from this universe. So we haven’t met. Technically.”

John stalled at that for a moment before smiling.

“Guess I missed a lot.”

“Yeah dad, you have,” Dean said roughly. “But before we get to that… how are you even here?”

John moved around the table, eyeing the books, the weapons and the room at large. “Someplace you got here.”

“It’s a Men of Letters Bunker,” Sam responded. “They were the research side of the Hunting community. We’re legacies, you were too, you just didn’t know. We’ve operated out of here for what…four, five years now?”

“Six,” Dean said, his eyes following his father, even though he hadn’t moved from his spot. Fear was rolling in his gut. Dad was dead. He’s been dead for more than ten years. There was no sign of Chuck or Amara. But he made it past the door so he isn’t a demon and Mom would have tested him for the rest. So how and why was he here?

“So one moment I was at home, in our kitchen with you boys and your Mom,” John sent a warm look to Mary that she didn’t quite return. “But I guess,” He looked around the room, “different versions of you. 

“Heaven.” Sam nodded for him to continue.

“And the next, I’m standing in the middle of a back road somewhere in the Midwest and this Jeep comes barrelling straight at me. Just when I think I’m going to die again, it swerves and stops in front of me. And then who gets out? My Mary here.” John gestured to Mary. “Except she looks different, and the first thing she does is hold a gun to my head!”

Whatever reaction John had been hoping for, it wasn’t the three proud smiles sent Mary’s way. Mary shrugged and smiled back.

“That’s right. Mom’s a badass” Dean said smugly

“And a Hunter, long before you guys met” Sam added.

“So I hear… So I hear,” John said as he walked around the table taking in everything but the people watching him. “So she goes through all the tests I taught you boys, a few I didn’t know… quizzed me relentlessly before letting me into her Jeep, and now we’re here.”

Somehow there had to be more to that story, but Dean figured whatever happened in that Jeep between his parents was none of his goddamn business.

Mary moved towards Dean, clearly telegraphing her intention to touch him. “Dean?” she ran her hand down his arm to the gun he was clenching tightly in his hand. “Maybe it’s time we got Cas?” Dean finally tore his eyes away from his father to look at his mother. She pried his fingers loose from the gun and gently relieved him of it.

“Mom, can I talk to you? Uh... Alone?”

Mary watched her son fidget ever so slightly. “Sure.”

Dean looked back over to where the other men were standing. John raised his hands in a shrug and took a seat at the table across from Bobby. Sam moved to stand at his father’s side, flanking him. Sam and Bobby both nodded at him. _We got this, go._

Dean nodded his thanks and steered his mother out of the room and down the hall, past sight lines and hearing range.

When Dean stopped, Mary stood silently, waiting her older son out. She didn’t have to wait long.

“I don’t want Dad to meet Cas,” Dean blurted.

“What? Why?” Mary exclaimed, confused. “Are you trying to hide the fact that he’s your lover?”

Dean flushed to the top of his ears. Mary was a lot of things, but subtle wasn’t one of them. “No!” he hissed before dropping his head. “Yes. No - or rather, that’s not the reason. Dad doesn’t believe in good magic, or Angels or in anything supernatural that is good. You’re either human or you’re not. You either deal in magic or you don’t.” Dean sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Even though everything he’d said was true, it still felt like a betrayal to talk badly of his father, especially to Mary.

Mary raised an eyebrow. “So you think that, what?… He’d attack Cas, and the rest of us will just... Sit there?”

“No! I mean…” Dean sighed and rubbed his hand down his face. “I never want Cas to feel like he’s less than. That he’s wrong, or evil, or unworthy….”

“And I never will again.” A voice piped up down the hall. Dean looked over to see Cas standing quietly at the end of the corridor.

“I know who my family is, Dean,” he said gently, “and it is only their good opinion of me that I would seek. Your father will not be able to hurt me, not with you standing by my side.”

“Cas,” Dean said softly, feeling unworthy of the being before him.

“I know you want to protect me from this man, and I love you for it, but this has to be done. We can’t let him walk around not knowing who he is or how he arrived here.” Cas moved closer to where they were standing, he reached out to tip Dean’s head up to look him in the eyes. “We are stronger together… right?”

Dean nodded. “Right. But I still don’t like it.”

Cas nodded sympathetically before continuing. “It’s not fair to make your mother wait any longer… imagine how long that drive would have been had it been you and me?”

Dean’s eyes widened and he looked back to Mary. “Right. Um. Sorry, Mom.”

Mary smiled at them. “Don’t worry about it. Maybe we can say Cas just knows magic? Instead of the whole…Angel part?”

Dean sighed again. “It’s not going to be much better, but it might help.” He looked back and forth between his Angel and his mom, “I’ve been outvoted here haven’t I?”

Mary grinned at him. “Yes, you have.”

“Most definitely.” Cas nodded with a smile

“Alright then, let’s do this.”

The three of them walked back into the War Room as a unit. Sam raised an eyebrow and Dean shrugged.

“So this is the “Cas” person I keep hearing about?” John said looking Castiel up and down, his face suggesting Cas was a lot less than he was expecting.

“Yes. Hello John Winchester.” Cas replied rigidly.

“So, what is this mysterious test that they need _you_ for?”

“Magic,” Cas said simply.

John rounded on Dean. “Really? Did everything I teach you about witches just go in one ear and out the other boy?”

Dean scowled. “Not all magic is bad, and neither are all witches.”

“Cas didn’t make a deal with a demon for his magic,” Sam cut in.

“You might say it’s a God-given talent,” Dean said with a smirk.

John scowled and looked away from his eldest. “You’ve gone soft.”

Dean’s smirk fell off his face instantly and he looked away.

“Actually, Sam and Dean have stopped the apocalypse, killed four Knights of Hell including your Azazel, have beaten the King of Hell at his own game, and threw Lucifer himself back into the cage. They have saved the world countless times, and have died more than a hundred times between the two of them - fifteen times if we only count death by Trickster once. They’ve also been Hunting ten years longer than you had, are head of the Men of Letters in the United States and are the go-to experts in their field. So “soft” isn’t a word I would use to describe them,” Cas stated calmly, his eyes only flicking away from John once, to find Dean’s. No one else would have caught the slight upturn of his lips, but Dean knew every expression Cas had, and that one was smug. Dean tried to hide his smile but the looks he was getting from his mother and brother suggested he was failing pretty badly.

“I think what Cas here means is, Shut Up, John,” Bobby groused.

John was momentarily taken aback his eyes bouncing from one person to another around the room before sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms. No one moved or said anything for a long moment before John sighed and nodded at Cas.

Cas moved towards John and reached out with two fingers, before stopping inches from his face when John flinched away. “I need to touch you for this to work.”

John looked around the room for support but found none.

John scowled, but nodded his consent.

Cas touched his fingers to John’s forehead and closed his eyes. The room practically vibrated with tension. Dean shifted from foot to foot, Sam tapped his gun against his leg. A moment later Cas opened his eyes but didn’t remove his hand. “He’s completely human, alive, here and himself. He isn’t time displaced, drugged or under a spell of any kind.”

Dean nearly laughed out his relief. Sam relaxed his stance and put his gun away. Mary smiled at John.

“If you want to know more, it might hurt,” Cas said simply. Dean knew from experience that the mind meld thing didn’t have to hurt, it only did if the person in question fought back. His father would definitely fight back.

“The hell with that!” John exclaimed and pushed Cas’s hand away from him. Cas shrugged and stepped back. “So we good here or what?” he asked impatiently.

It didn’t explain how John had come to be here, but maybe this was enough for now. Dean didn’t think Cas would take kindly to Dean temporarily killing himself just so he could go quiz Billie about it.

A silent conversation passed between Sam, Dean, Mary, Bobby and Cas before Dean shrugged.

“Yeah, it’s time for lunch anyway. I’ll go get started, someone round up the troops.” Dean headed for the kitchen, Sam and Cas following him out, leaving Mary and Bobby to deal with John.


	5. John

John Winchester sat back in the sturdy wooden chair, completely overwhelmed by the events of the last half hour. Nothing made sense. His sons were men. Leaders of men even. They didn’t Hunt alone. Lived in some overgrown underground library. With witches! What kind of pansy-ass name was Cas anyways? Disgust rolled through him remembering how every single one of them had not only agreed to let that filthy witch touch him, but that they - Mary even! - suggested it. And Dean had gone soft - practically shaking when he walked in. Mary nearly unrecognizable even though she hadn’t aged. She was still stunningly beautiful. Not to mention the stranger across from him who wore his best friend’s face.

“Someone want to catch me up on all that shit the witch was talking about?”

Mary and Bobby exchanged a glance.

“I only came to this universe a few months ago,” Bobby said with a shrug. “Your boys saved me and mine, but the rest well…”

“This universe?”

“Errr, yeah there was a rift between worlds. And mine weren’t that pleasant. It was dying. They came in to get Mary and Jack out.” Bobby sent Mary a smile, which she returned, “but in the end, they ended up saving my whole camp, what was left of humanity really. Most of ‘em are here, but some are out and about, seein’ the world and Hunting. Good people.”

John looked between Bobby and Mary and felt a white-hot flash of jealousy. They had clearly experienced something terrible and traumatic together.

“Jack?”

“Errr..”

“This kid that everyone has kind of adopted,” Mary cut in, sharing another look with Bobby.

John grit his teeth. There were so many secrets here. Why were they still hiding things from him if he’d been cleared by the pet-witch?

“And you?” John asked his wife. Or was it estranged wife? Ex-wife? From the moment he had laid eyes on her again, he’d wanted to wrap his arms around her and never let go. But Mary had rebuffed him when they had met, all guns, iron, silver and even soap. Things had not gotten better in the Jeep on the way to this… base. She had been quiet and reserved, but there were moments when Mary looked at him like that was all she wanted as well, and then those moments were gone, as if shutters had snapped closed behind her eyes. He had held out hope that once he’d been cleared here, she’d throw herself into his arms, even shed a tear or two as their whole family was reunited for the first time in more than a decade. But that too had vanished like a fever dream when his boys disrespected him and she had taken their side. Even now that they were mostly alone, Mary hadn’t reached for him.

“I’ve only been alive again for about a year. I know some of the things our sons have achieved while we were dead, but you should really ask them about that…” Mary made no move to sit down or even move closer to him. So much for that happy reunion he’d envisioned once they had gotten his identity all sorted.

“So our boys didn’t make you like… this” John gestured to all of Mary.

Mary frowned. “No. The Campbells have been Hunters for generations.”

“And you just, what?” John seethed “Hid it from me? For eight _years_?”

“I gave up my life and my family for you, John. I wanted a normal life - and I wanted our sons to have a normal life! Not to grow up with all of this.” She spread her hands indicating the Bunker. “But once you’re in The Life…”

John and Bobby both nodded. That was at least one thing that they could agree on. Once you were in The Life, you never really got out.

“And here I just thought you didn’t get along with your dad. Samuel was a right bastard though.” John shook his head and nearly missed another look that passed between Mary and Bobby. What were they talking about?

“I didn’t tell you because you couldn’t handle it.” Mary finally stated and Bobby sighed.

John saw red.

“How dare you” John growled, shaking with rage. He slammed his fists down onto the table and pushed his chair away as he stood up to face Mary. “Do you know the things I’ve done for you?” he said pointing angrily at her.

Couldn’t handle it? Couldn’t HANDLE it? He’d spent years handling the ugliest and nastiest underside of civilization all to catch her killer. And he was the one who couldn’t handle it?? Maybe had she been honest with him in the first place, he could have not only better handled the whole situation but actually avoided it in the first place! It was her inability to handle it on her own that lead to her death in the first place!

“You mean because of me, not for me. I was dead John!” she shot back. “And from what I hear you didn’t handle it - you just drank and Hunted through your grief, leaving Dean to raise Sam by himself!”

“That boy,” John swore. “I ought to whip his hide for complaining and talking about me like that. Ungrateful brats, I taught those boys everything I knew!”

“Training them isn’t raising them! The man I married would have known that!”

“That man died the night you did!”

John and Mary stood staring at each other hands fisted and breathing heavily.

“Our boys hate us, John. They hate us for the piss-poor selfish choices we’ve made, and they’ve every right. I hope to make it up to them, and if you had any sense you would too,” Mary said tightly.

“Lunch is ready in the kitchen,” Sam said from the hallway entrance, not looking even slightly sorry for interrupting. That boy was rude.

Mary didn’t even hesitate, she just walked straight out of the room past Sam without a word. Bobby got to his feet, nodded to John once, before following her out.

John stood momentarily dumbfounded before he too followed them out of the room and down the hall.

John walked into the kitchen and was stunned to see the number of people laughing and talking over delicious-smelling homemade mac and cheese. And there was Dean, dishing it out on plates, serving everyone with a smile. The witch stood beside him handing out juice and water. John sneered. This was not the kind of work he raised his son to do. His boy was a soldier and an unflappable Hunter. Why was he wasting his time cooking for these people? Babysitting them even? Surely there were enough people here for someone to take on this lesser task. Dean needed to learn to delegate better so he could get back to his true calling.

“So this is what you do here?” John sneered as Dean handed him a plate of food.

Dean’s face went from open and happy, to closed-off and scowling. “An army marches on its stomach,” he replied.

“Water?” Cas asked icily.

“Beer,” John replied.

“No,” Dean said, “you’re holding up the line.”

John grumbled and went to find an unoccupied seat. Bobby sat down across from him, eating silently while John watched his older son interact with the people of the Bunker. John took a bite of the food in front of him and was startled at the rich and full flavour that flooded his mouth.

Bobby smirked. “Dean’s the best cook in the Bunker. No one misses his meals if they can help it.”

John watched his eldest son, once he was done serving he got his own portion and leaned against the counter, Sam, Mary, and the witch making a loose circle around him. “Apparently not everyone” he muttered noticing Cas not eating anything.

A young man came bounding into the room. “Dean! You’re back!” he said excitedly and pushed his way into the circle to hug Dean. Dean huffed but smiled and hugged him back.

“Hey kid. I got back last night actually. Plus Sam and me were only gone for four days.”

“Yeah but you said not to bother you guys when you first get back from a Hunt so I didn’t!” the kid insisted.

Dean and Cas flushed while Mary gave him an indulgent smile. Sam ruffled his hair

“You did good, Jack.”

Jack smiled and moved to give Sam a hug as well. “Oooh, macaroni and cheese!” he crowed happily, everyone else smiling fondly at him as he grabbed his own portion.

Suddenly the resemblance between the witch and the kid was uncanny, and John’s food turned to ash in his mouth. How many witches lived here? Was Jack Cas’s son? How did they get involved with his sons? His wife? He watched as Sam and Dean laughed and looked around their little group with warmth and familiarity in their eyes. Mary seemed to be much more relaxed in their presence than she’d been in his. These weren’t Bobby’s people. They were something else. Friends? Family? John dropped his fork on his plate with a clang that made Bobby look up at him and then over at what he was staring at. John paid him no mind.

How had these witches entrenched themselves so completely into his son’s lives? What sort of spell had been cast on his family?

_**//They cannot be trusted//** _

They could not be trusted.


	6. Cas

Over the years, Castiel had heard many stories about John Winchester. Had seen how the boys still fought about him, long after he was dead. But hearing stories about the man, and meeting him in person were two entirely different things. He had lost his temper in the War Room after John had so blatantly disrespected Sam and Dean’s contributions to the world. They were the bravest, kindest and most self-sacrificial people he had ever met, and yet their own father had found them wanting. It was infuriating. Every time Dean shrunk under his father’s gaze, Castiel hated John just a little bit more.

It wasn’t until three days later that Castiel came to hate John Winchester for an entirely different reason.

 

~

 

Castiel and Dean were packing Baby for a trip to Sioux Falls, moving around each other with practised ease. Castiel could see how happy Dean was about getting out of the Bunker and having a purpose outside of waiting for reports to come in. And they had been coming in. Every hour seemed to bring with it another report of a monster attack, or strange things happening in broad daylight. Twenty minutes ago, during breakfast, Jody had called requesting backup and Dean had leapt at the chance. 

“Come on, Cas! Let’s go!” He’d crowed with delight. “We got this Sammy!” He’d said as he had all but run from the War Room. Castiel had smiled and nodded, and left with Dean. Sam was too busy coordinating what was an ever-growing group of Hunters to join them, and Mary still didn’t get along very well with Jody after their last run in while she had been brainwashed.

Dean closed Baby’s trunk and nudged Castiel with his shoulder. “Looking forward to Hunting with you again,” he said with a smile. “Just you, me, Baby and the open road.”

Castiel smiled back and wrapped his arms around the Hunter. “Sounds lovely.” Dean smiled and leaned in for a kiss. Their lips had only briefly touched when the door leading to the garage banged open.

“Dean!” John called.

Dean recoiled so fast Castiel nearly fell forward. By the time he looked up, Dean was already jogging to the far side of the garage to where his father was coming up the steps.

“Dad!”

When the whole garage came into view, John whistled. “Now _this_ is a garage!” he said appreciatively, looking around the room at all of the antique cars and bikes.

“The men of letters kept an entire fleet of vehicles for their use—” Dean’s explanation died as they reached Baby, noticing how Castiel stood, legs wide, leaning back against her side invitingly. Castiel couldn’t help but flash a triumphant smile as Dead’s pupils dilated at the sight.

“I’ve seen you’ve taken good care of my car,” John said, ignoring Castiel entirely while looking over the Impala.

“My car, Dad. Baby is my car,” Dean replied quickly, refocusing on his father, shaking his head as if it would help remove the image Castiel had created in his mind. “And of course I take care of her. Built her up from nothing a couple of times too,” he said with obvious pride. His eyes flicked back to Castiel, who smiled back. Dean was so diligent about taking care of the things and people he loved.

“And you still drive her despite all of this?” John gestured to the rest of the garage.

“Of course!” Dean protested, scandalized. Castiel knew that there were no other cars for Dean.

John paused before nodding. “Anyways, I want to come with you. Get my hands dirty, spend time with my son.”

Dean looked like a deer caught in the headlights. “Err, Cas and I were just going to go help out some of our friends actually…”

“Perfect. I’ll give you a hand,” John said, moving towards Baby.

“It’s really not necess–” Dean started to say but was cut off.

“Think your old man’s gone soft in heaven do you?” John said with heat.

“No! I just…we just...”

Castiel watched as Dean stumbled around and looked to him for help. He raised an eyebrow. It had been Dean’s idea to get out of the Bunker for a while, to enjoy some time together - away from all of the strangers, and away from this man in particular. As much as Castiel despised John, he was still Dean’s father, and this was not his call.

John was already moving towards the passenger door, not waiting for his son’s verdict. Castiel moved swiftly to get in between the man and the door. He didn’t have to like John coming along, but he wasn’t going to stand for being displaced to the backseat.

“Excuse me,” Castiel said, pushing past John and taking his place up front next to Dean. John looked murderous for a moment, like he was about to start swearing, but the cold look Dean shot him as he got into the driver’s seat seemed to quickly change John’s mind.

 

~

 

They were twenty minutes out and silence still reigned in the car. Castiel looked longingly at the expanse of the front seat bench that he clearly would be sitting in if not for the man in the back. Dean sat stiffly behind the wheel, his hands white with the strength of his grip. Castiel placed his hand in between them, hoping to comfort the Hunter, but Dean shook his head slightly without looking away from the road. Dean was still as loving and tactile as ever when they were alone, or around only a few select people- holding Cas’s hand, kissing him on the cheek when he went by, running his fingers down his sides or a myriad of other tiny acts of love and affection Dean had been bestowing on him since they had gotten together. But Castiel had not missed the fact that Dean had become jumpy and nervous in the public areas, staying farther outside Castiel’s personal space than he had in years. Castiel narrowed his eyes in consternation. How many secrets was Dean keeping from his father? How many involved him? 

“So how did you meet my sons, Witch?” John asked from the backseat.

If Dean wasn’t such a good driver, he might have flipped the car at his father’s words.

Dean and Castiel exchanged a look. _I gripped you tight and raised you from perdition._

“I am not a witch. And I helped them stop the apocalypse.” True. “Ten years ago.” Castiel sent one of his barely-there smiles at Dean and Dean finally smiled back at him.

_Take that John Winchester!_

John sat back with a frown.

“Team Free Will.” Dean smiled softly, his hands finally relaxing on the wheel. “You, me, Sam and Bobby against the world, against The Plan. Against fate itself. Seems like a lifetime ago.”

“Considering how far we’ve come, it certainly does.” They shared another smile, while John sulked in the backseat. It was going to be a long drive.

 

~

 

Jody and Donna were standing on Jody’s porch, both in full sheriff's gear, when they pulled into the drive. 

“Dean,” Jody said. “It’s good to see you.” She pulled him into a hug. “Thank you for coming.”

“Of course, Jody. Anytime, you know that.” Dean said. Jody smiled, but there was a tightness around her eyes. Even Donna looked less than her normal cheerful self.

Both women brightened when Castiel came up to stand next to Dean.

“There you are, Castiel!” Jody said happily, opening her arms for a hug. Castiel hugged the woman but shot Dean a look of fear. They had managed to keep his true name a secret from John since he’d arrived since they considered it possibly too telling of his true nature, but they hadn’t had the time or opportunity to warn Jody or Donna of this fact, or of John’s arrival.

“Castiel? What kind of hippie-dippy name is that?” John griped from behind them, immediately picking up on it.

Cas frowned. Dean closed his eyes as if in pain. Who knows what kind of negative self-hate Dean was hearing.

“It’s a proper name for an Angel!” Donna responded tartly. “Angel o’ Thursday, right Castiel?” she said proudly.

Castiel’s eyes went wide “Uh. Yes. That’s right Donna.” His eyes flicked back and forth between her and Dean “My parents were very religious.”

Donna and Jody stared at him like he had grown another head.

“Figures,” John muttered. Dean quickly moved in to hug Donna, not responding.

“Jody, Donna, I’d like to introduce you to my father, John Winchester,” Dean said, gesturing to the man now standing beside him. Their incredulous looks moved from Castiel to Dean, to John.

“I thought you said he was…”

“Dead. Sure was. Until about three days ago,” John said, not bothering to hold out his hand to shake theirs.

“Winchester might as well mean “to come back from the dead” with how often you lot do it,” Jody snarked. She stared both Cas and Dean down. _I will get an explanation for this._

Dean dropped his gaze rubbed the back of his head sheepishly while nodding. _Yes Ma’am._

“How’s Mary?” Jody asked.

“We going Hunting or what?” John replied briskly. Jody and Donna shared a look before nodding to John. “Let's go inside and we’ll fill you in.”


	7. Dean

“It started a couple of days ago, like I said, vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, skinwalkers, wendigoes even, coming out the woodwork,” Jody explained once they were seated at her kitchen table.

“We put down more nasties in the last three days than we have in the last two months!” Donna continued. 

Three days? That sure was some coincidence. Dean shared a look with Cas but didn’t interrupt.

Jody grimaced. “We instituted a county-wide curfew, but they aren’t exactly keeping to the midnight hours.”

Dean nodded. “That tracks with what we’ve been hearing.”

“What is going on, Dean?” Jody asked.

“We’re not entirely sure…but whatever it is, it’s widespread and affecting more than just the local monster populations.” Dean replied, his eyes flicking to his father and then back to Jody.

“There aren’t even any omens, biblical, demonic or otherwise,” Cas added with a frown.

“Regardless, we’re here to help, so put us to work Jody.”

Jody nodded and pulled out a map.

“Where’s Claire?” Cas asked.

“She’s at the hospital.” At Cas’s look of horror, Jody continued, “watching over Alex and following up with any victims that come in. She’s a very capable Hunter.” Jody hesitated. ”She’s fine, Castiel.”

“You trying to convince him or yourself, Jodes?” Dean piped in.

Jody sighed. “Both of us?” she said throwing up her hands. “She’s been all cut up since Kaia.”

Everyone but John nodded sadly.

“Can we get back to the Hunting?” John cut in, scowling. “We’re wasting time with this chick flick stuff.”

The entire table paused to look at him. John stared at his son. _Well, Dean?_

Dean flinched and looked away from his father’s angry gaze. They did need to focus, but to speak to Jody and Donna that way? It wasn’t right. It wasn’t compassionate or fair. Claire was not only a great Hunter and an asset to their team, she was family. Dean’s hands tightened into fists under the table. Why couldn’t he just tell his father off?

“There’s no need ta be rude,” Donna said as Cas placed a hand on Dean’s fist under the table.

Dean looked at Cas and then at his father before sliding his hand out from under Cas’s and resting it on the table. Cas didn’t even look at him, just let his hand drop onto Dean’s thigh.

“Why don’t you wait in the car, Mr. Winchester. We’ll be right out,” Jody said diplomatically.

John snorted. “So what you’re saying is that you have no real leads then. Isn’t that just typical.”

Suddenly everyone was standing and pushing away their chairs.

Dean could feel the electricity radiating off of Cas and the anger from the women across the table from him. He needed to do something fast or this was going to get messy.

“Go wait in the car, Dad,” he growled.

John looked around the table, shrugged and left the room. The kitchen was silent while they waited, listening for the sound of the front door closing. When it finally did, Donna moved to speak, but Dean quickly brought up his hand directing her to wait. Dean knew this routine, he’d seen it used before. In fact, John was the one who’d taught him how to do it. Enrage people so that they would talk once they thought you had left, spilling all of their secrets. Not today. Dean gestured to the door to the basement and, even though Donna and Jody gave him wild looks, they quietly made their way over and went down the stairs. Cas was the last one down, closing the door silently behind them.

Dean didn’t even have time to appreciate the punching bag, the racks of knives and guns, or the bookcases filled with tomes that Sam would no doubt want to see once he knew they were here, before Jody was in his face.

“What the fuck, Winchester?” she hissed.

“I know! I know…” he said raising his hands in self-defence. “He’s just…like that,” Dean tried to explain, badly.

“He’s a person Dean, not a wild animal.” Donna scowled. “And animals have better manners.”

“He’s just upset that we are hiding so many things from him.”

“You mean like Castiel being an angel?” Donna said pointedly.

Dean nodded and sighed. “Yes. He hates anything that isn’t human.”

“More like anyone who doesn’t obey him,” Cas muttered from where he stood at the bottom of the staircase.

Dean frowned before nodding and sighing.”I’m sorry guys, I .. I didn’t expect him to join us.”

“You could have told him no!” Cas snapped and Dean nodded again.

“I could have, but he said he wanted to spend time…and…”

Cas’s face fell and he moved towards Dean but stopped before he touched him. “And he’s your father... I’m sorry Dean.”

Dean wanted to reach out and hold him, to bury his face into Cas’ neck and never let go.

“I understand why you would want to hide what I am. But must you hide what we have as well?” Cas asked, every line of his body radiating anxiety and frustration.

Dean flushed to the roots of his hair. “I … Cas…”

“Woah! You boys finally got together?” Donna squealed. “Congratulations!”

“Yes, thank you,” Cas replied, his eyes never leaving Dean’s face. Dean’s eyes fell to his shoes. “That is what you’re doing isn’t it?” Cas asked. “You don’t seem to mind anyone else knowing…or…” he hesitated, unsure. “Have I overstepped? Have you changed your mind?” The pain in Cas’s voice was almost too much to bear. It was quiet, resigned.

“No!” Dean growled, desperate. “I have not changed my mind!” How had this gone so badly? How had he screwed up? Again. Just the other day they were happy, and now his love was in doubt? Why was he always hurting the people he loved? Letting his father hurt the people he loved? He gave in to Michael just as surely as he was giving up to his father. He was weak. Dean forced himself to look up into Cas’s eyes, hoping the Angel would see the truth in his words.

His vision was filled with blue, as Cas cupped his face, heedless of their audience. “You are a good man, Dean Winchester. You are worthy of love and affection and the family you have created for yourself. Just because your father is an assbutt and can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s wrong or bad or that you don’t deserve it.”

Dean sighed and leant his forehead against Cas’s. This man. This Angel.

“Thanks for reminding me, Cas,” Dean said roughly, tilting his head down to kiss him. He reached out, gathering the Angel into his arms and hugging him tightly. Cas returned his hug and ran his fingers soothingly down his back. “

“I love you,” Cas whispered into his hair.

Dean hugged him tighter. “You too.”

“Castiel is right, Dean,” Jody said from over Cas’s shoulder, making Dean look up at her. “Your father’s a right piece of work, but you’re a good man. Don’t forget that.”

“Thanks, Jody” Dean said, his voice rough.

She smiled at him. “Congratulations. Now can we get the real story about what is going on?”

Dean made a choked laughing noise and Cas squeezed him tight once more before stepping out of his arms to face Jody.

“We told you basically everything we know, except for the fact that Michael is currently MIA. And we don’t know if, or how, he’s involved with all of this.”

Donna whistled. “Welp wouldn’t that just be buckets of fun.”

“With our luck, he is,” Dean said. “We may have banished him from… his vessel, but we sure didn’t kill him.”

“Regardless, I’m glad you’re back with us Dean,” Jody said.

“Thanks, Jody. Me too.”

“We should get back up there before he becomes suspicious,” Donna said grabbing a shotgun off the wall. She pointed to it and Jody nodded. Donna flashed a grin and grabbed some ammunition.

“He’s already suspicious,” Cas said with a shrug.

“So are all Hunters who know there’s more going on than what they’re being told,” Jody said pointedly, grabbing a couple of knives off a table.

“I know, I know. I’ll tell him. Everything. Soon.” Dean tried to ignore the three looks of disbelief sent his way.

“Let's go kill something. Maybe it’ll help,” Donna said brightly.

“Well, it certainly couldn’t hurt,” Jody smirked.

 

~

 

Claire was leaning against the side door of the trauma centre, hood up, when Dean, Cas and John rolled up into the employee parking lot. Jody and Donna were only a few seconds behind them in Jody’s squad car. 

“When they said they were calling in the cavalry, I didn’t expect you to show up, old man,” Claire snarked.

“Who you callin’ ‘old man’ kid?” Dean shot back with a grin. Claire walked over to their group, her eyes flicking to each person before turning and grabbing Dean into a hug. His eyes went wide and then softened as he hugged her back tightly. “I’m ok kid, really.” He said. Claire nodded for a moment, not looking up at him before finally pulling back.

 “Don’t you do that again, alright!?” she was clearly trying to be jovial, but there was a new pain behind her eyes that hadn’t been there before. _Kaia._

“Yeah, course.” Dean nodded and glanced at Cas. “I promise.” Cas nodded back at him. _Thank you._

“And YOU!” Claire let go of Dean just as swiftly to turn her anger on Cas. “You were supposed to stop him from doing stupid shit!”

“Claire!” Jody admonished.

“I’m sorry, Claire, but it’s very hard to stop Dean from doing something once he’s set his mind to it. But you are right. I should have done better. I am sorry,” he replied solemnly.

Claire regarded him for a moment longer. “Who’s this?” she said gesturing towards John.

“Ah, Claire, this is my father, John Winchester. Dad, this is Claire. Claire is...” Dean’s stomach dropped as he made eye contact with Cas. _How the fuck do we explain who Claire is?_

Cas raised an eyebrow at him. _You’re on your own._

Dean looked back at his father and squared his shoulders. “Claire is family. Just like Cas, Donna and Jody.”

“They ain’t family boy. Not like me, your mother and Sam.” 

“You’re wrong,” Dean said, his hand curling into fists. “Family don’t end with blood. Our Bobby taught me that. They might not be your blood, but they are my family.” _Better family to me than you ever were._ Dean trembled with anger, and a small amount of fear for standing up to his father, but Cas’s bright smile bolstered him and he stood his ground.

The parking lot was quiet as Dean and John stared each other down. “Whatever,” John finally said and looked away.

“What do you have for us, Claire?” Jody asked, sidestepping John entirely.

“Alex says that the reports are slowing down, but that the remaining attacks seem to be coming in from the south side of town rather than all over like they were before.”

“That’s odd.”

“They’re not just attacking randomly then, they are attacking as they move south?” Cas asked.

“Seems like it.”

“What kind of monsters are we talking?”

“From what I’ve seen?” Claire shrugged. “Werewolves and vampires.”

“Well, what are we waiting for, let’s go kill them.” John groused.

“Gear up everyone, we might not get a chance to do so again,” Dean said, moving to open Baby’s trunk. “Make sure you grab silver and dead man’s blood rounds.” Dean grabbed his holster and strapped two guns to his sides before grinning and grabbing his favourite machete. He passed an extra Angel blade to Cas, who promptly handed it over to Claire.

Her eyes got big and she smiled. “Thanks, Cas.”

Cas nodded and sent her a small smile. It warmed Dean’s heart to see them getting along so well.

 

~

 

“Stop the car!” Cas said just as they had passed the city limits.

 Dean slammed on the breaks and the Impala screeched to a halt. “What do you see?”

 “In the woods.” Cas pointed. All three men peered into the gloom of the forest, only to realize there were multiple pairs of eyes peering back out at them. In an instant they were out of the car, weapons in hand, with Jody, Donna and Claire only seconds behind them exiting the squad car.

 “Ah! The Winchesters have come out to play!” A voice cackled from behind them. Dean turned to its source and Cas slipped in behind him to watch the other side.

 A vampire stepped out of the shadows of the woods, into direct sunlight, with a smirk.

 “Well, that’s new.” Dean griped.

“The Witch stopped us in the middle of the pack! — He’s trying to kill us!” John snarled.

“Hardly,” Cas said rolling his eyes, his blade in hand.

Jody and Donna shared a look. _Witch?_

“You want a piece of this? Come get some” Dean said with a grin, gesturing with his gun.

There was a breath where nothing and no one moved, and then chaos erupted as monsters of all types rushed the Hunters on the road.

Dean and Cas moved as a unit, tearing through the melee, guns blazing and blade flashing. Dean shot a werewolf point blank between its eyes with a silver bullet as Cas beheaded a vampire beside him. They moved forward to take on the next set, when Cas shouted.

“Dean!”

The werewolf Dean thought he had just put down had gotten up again behind him while Cas’s vampire lay dead in the road. The werewolf lunged for Dean’s neck, jaws gaping. Dean whipped around and managed to get his gun up just as its teeth were closing. He shot it again, snapping its head back with the force of the bullet. It wasn’t much, but it gave him the seconds he needed swap his gun for the machete on his hip before it attacked again. The thud of its head on the ground was lost in the chaos.

“Silver bullets aren’t working!” He shouted to the group, glad he’d grabbed his machete from the car.

“Deadman’s blood is out too!” Jody called from a few feet away, teeth gritted. She dropped her gun to the pavement as she reached for her knife. She barely got the blade up in time before the male Vampire attacked once again. Donna came up behind him and stuck her blade through his throat, throwing him down to the ground as hard as she could. She stomped on the creature’s head as soon as it hit the pavement.

“Decapitation still works!” Donna called, removing her foot from the gruesome remains.

Cas plunged his blade into the heart of a shapeshifter. It flickered and died. Dean spared a glance over his shoulder at the group. They were outmatched and outnumbered. He made eye contact with Cas for a split second. The Angel didn’t smile, but nodded at him. Hiding Cas’s true power was no longer a priority. Cas threw his angel blade into the kitsune attacking Claire. The thing lit up and then died. He pried the blade out of its chest and nodded to Claire. She flashed him a brief smile before turning to attack a ghoul. Cas returned to Dean’s side, grabbing the vampire in front of him by her face, and smiting her with a flash of white light.

Dean turned to his father who was currently holding his own against a couple of wraiths, but Dean could see they were about to be overwhelmed by the movement in the woods heading their direction. A large wendigo crashed through the brush and up onto the highway, distracting everyone on the road momentarily with its appearance.

“Ever killed a wendigo, Cas?” Dean asked, gripping his machete tighter.

“Not that I can recall,” Cas said as he looked up at the monstrous creature.

Dean was immediately distracted by another werewolf and didn’t notice Cas take off in the direction of the wendigo. It lashed out wildly, and smacked Cas, throwing him across the road and into the Impala’s windshield. Dean winced at the sound of the crunch.

“Cas!” he shouted, his attention dangerously split between the monster in front of him and Castiel slowly sliding down and off Baby. Once his feet were back on solid ground Cas whipped around to the back and went into the trunk. From his position beside the car, he threw blade after blade into the swarm of monsters, killing them instantly and providing the beleaguered Hunters with new weapons. His last throw took out a skinwalker right in front of John.

Castiel looked wild and dangerous. Dean felt his mouth go dry and his pants tighten. Now was so not the time, but watching Cas fight never got old. Dean shook his head trying to clear it and force the blood back to his brain where it was needed far more at the moment. It was a wonder he had managed to fight beside the Angel for so many years without jumping him.

John wrenched an angel blade out of the skinwalker’s head, giving it a cursory glance before going back to fighting. Properly equipped, the Hunters were starting to gain the upper hand. 

Cas moved back towards the Wendigo. “I don’t think I can get close enough to smite it!” he called to Dean.

“My Zeppo's no good without fuel!” Dean shouted back, his arms burning in a satisfying way as he cut down yet another monster. It wasn’t quite as pure as Purgatory had been, but it was close.

Something shot through the crowd into the Wendigo and it lit up from the inside. It screamed as the fire tore it up and it burned, crumbling onto the asphalt. Dean and Cas turned to look at Donna putting her flare gun away. She shrugged with a grin before attacking a wraith coming up behind Claire.

A man stumbled out of the brush, his form shifting and changing, growing larger and larger, his arms becoming massive wings.

“Dragon!” Dean bellowed as the dragon took on its full form right in front of John, who stood staring in shock at the transformation happening in front of him.

Cas moved quickly and managed to insert himself between John and the dragon. The movement brought John back to awareness and he snarled when he realized Cas had moved to protect him. He tried to push past Cas, only to find that Cas had become an immovable object. Dean could see the moment when John went from anger to fear, realizing that Cas wasn’t being stubborn, he was being inhuman.

“What… What ARE you?” John hissed as distrust and fear combined into hate. “Monster!” he shouted. 

Cas realized a second too late what had happened, and grimaced at John’s proclamation. “I’ll explain later,” Cas growled at John without turning to look at him.

Cas charged at the beast trying to get his blade into its tough hide and his hands close enough to smite. Dean’s insides suddenly tightened with fear, but he shoved it down knowing that Cas was their only shot at killing the thing. Baby held a lot of secrets in her trunk, but a blade forged in dragon’s blood wasn’t one of them.

Cas’s constant barrage of attacks had truly gained the dragon’s attention. Its fierce claws and snapping jaws always just a second behind the Angel as they fought. Cas had already cut the giant beast a few times, mostly grazes instead of the stabs he needed to put it down. His trench coat flared out behind him as he jumped out of the way of its tail, reminding Dean of Cas’s damaged wings hiding just out of sight. He was magnificent. He was in trouble.

Dean leapt in, attacking the dragon’s hind legs with his machete. He might not be able to kill it, but he could hamstring it and slow it down for Cas, because with every slash and cut from his angel blade, the dragon grew weaker and more uncoordinated. Other monsters flooded the road, and Dean found himself spending more time keeping them off Cas than helping him to fight the dragon.

Dean’s arms burned as he cut the head off of another Vampire. He couldn’t relent, couldn’t slow down or rest. His family was at stake and Cas needed Dean to buy him more time. Dean grit his teeth and doubled his efforts. Behind him, the dragon had become sloppy, its tail thrashing out randomly, nearly hitting the distracted Hunters. Castiel dodged it with increasing ease until the dragon became so angry and frustrated that it forgot to only use its powerful tail and sharp claws to attack, putting its delicate eyes and ears in range of Castiel’s blade. Castiel’s struck true again and again, blinding the dragon as it snapped at him, trying to tear into the Angel with its jaws. It screamed and thrashed wildly, leaving an opening for Cas to make the kill. He shoved his blade through its rough scales straight into its heart. The dragon’s death lit up the whole road, forcing everyone to cover their eyes from the bright light.

With the dragon dead at their feet, the remaining monsters started to flee back into the brush. The ground was littered with the dead, but Cas, Dean, John, Jody, Donna and Claire were all still standing, with only a few scratches between them. Dean was so proud he could burst. Cas was immediately at his side, looking over his injuries, and brushing his fingers along Dean’s temple where a kitsune had scratched him.

“Cas, I’m fine.”

“No you’re not, let me heal you.” His tone and eyes insistent.

Dean took Cas’s hand from his forehead. “You’ve already given enough today, this’ll keep.” Cas sighed but ultimately let it go.

“That was some mighty fine work boys,” Jody said as she got to their side, stepping through the carnage.

“I’m just grateful Donna had that flare gun!” Dean joked. “You ok, kid?” Dean nudged Claire who now stood beside him, dirty but smiling. “Nothing I can’t handle.”

_That’s my girl._

A loud click interrupted them. “Get away from my son, monster.” John was holding a gun to the side of Cas head.

“Dad!” Dean shouted, immobilized, first with fear and then with rage. His overwhelming emotions held no sway with the three women beside him who immediately raised their guns to point at John.

Cas didn’t move. “That won’t kill me, John.” He said coldly. Flashes of Cas being burst apart by Michael, walking into the lake, and lying prone on the beach flashed through Dean’s eyes. Cas might be hard to kill, but he was no stranger to death. Dean would not survive him dying again.

“But we _will_ kill you if you attack Cas. Do we have an understanding, Mr Winchester?” Jody said calmly as if she was giving a traffic ticket instead of aiming her gun at a man’s head.

“How have you bewitched them, Creature?” he snarled. “Make them lie and kill for you?”

“Dean never lied to you, John. He never told you I was a witch. You assumed. Dean hides the great man he has become because he thinks you won’t approve. And they fight for me because we are family. I love them, and they love me.” Cas’s eyes found Dean’s and didn’t waver. “I am Castiel, Angel of the Lord.”

“There’s no such thing as angels” John grit out.

“And yet, here I am,” Cas replied simply.

Finally, Dean found the strength to move. “He’s telling the truth, Dad. Cas-Castiel, He fought the hordes of hell to save me and bring me back. I trust him with my life.”

John scoffed.

Dean shifted towards his father cautiously, “I .. Trust him with _Sam’s life._ I will tell you all about it, as long as you put the gun down. Right now.”

John didn’t waver but his eyes slid from Cas to Dean briefly before moving back to Cas.

“He is my family.” Dean tried again, desperate. _He is my everything._

John glanced around at the guns aimed at his head and slowly lowered his arm. Dean immediately moved and grabbed the gun from his father, placing himself between the man and the Angel. His heart was beating so loudly it was a wonder everyone wasn’t complaining about the noise level.

Dean’s phone rang loudly, louder than his heart, cutting through the strangled tension of the road. Dean passed the gun to Cas and pulled his cell out, his eyes never leaving his father. He might have unarmed the man, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t still dangerous.

“Yeah, Sammy?” Dean’s rough voice betrayed him.

Sam paused on the other end. “You ok? Is everyone ok?”

“I’ll tell you later. What’s up?”

“Charlie and Rowena called. They know what’s going on.”

“Well? Don’t leave me hanging here…”

“The monsters are forming a horde. One large horde of everything that goes bump in the night. And no matter where they are coming from they all seem to have one trajectory.”

“Let me guess, Sammy, they are headed right for us.”

“Straight toward the Bunker,” Sam confirmed.


	8. Dean

It didn’t take much planning after Dean had relayed Sam’s message to the group. Jody and Donna would return home to watch over their towns, until the monster threat was entirely gone from those areas, before making their way to the Bunker. Meanwhile, Claire would join them in the Impala right away. After a couple more phone calls, it was decided that Alex would follow with Jody and Donna and that Dean, Cas, John and Claire would swing by and pick up Patience on their way out of town. That is after they cleaned up the mess of bodies and debris on the road. It was unwelcome, gruesome work, but at least Dean got to covertly watch Cas manhandle the dragon into the forest with his super-human strength while he did it.

Patience, Claire and Dean kept up a fairly steady stream of conversation during, what should have been a five-hour drive back to the Bunker. It took them over six, as they kept having to stop to kill a few additional monsters they came across on the way. With Cas’s stony silence in the front seat beside him and the murderous intent of his father in the back, it felt like the longest road trip Dean had ever taken. He had even started to look forward to when they were forced to get out of the car to kill something, just to get a break from the oppressive mood inside the Impala. At least Patience seemed to slip under his dad’s radar for being a person not entirely devoid of magic. Maybe it was due to John’s memory of Missouri, but Dean didn’t care as long as she was one less person he had to worry about around his father. Unfortunately, it also meant John’s focus remained fixed on Cas. It certainly hadn’t helped his case, when Cas had repaired a crack in Baby’s windshield with a touch.

Cas, for his part, sat stoically in the front seat, staring out the window while John glared daggers into the back of his head from his seat behind Dean. The girls had masterfully taken up the seats directly behind Cas without so much as a conversation, leaving John just out of reach.

Dean had considered disarming his father, but that wouldn’t be doing anyone any favours if they were ambushed again, so instead he spent half his time watching the road and the other half watching his father. It wasn’t the smoothest driving he’d ever done.

 

~

 

It was a relief when the finally pulled into the Bunker’s garage. Everyone helped unload the car, but Claire and Patience left pretty quick afterwards, Claire promising a tour of the Bunker to the other woman. 

Dean, Cas and John were all headed towards the main room when Dean mumbled, “hey Cas, can I talk to you for a moment?”

Cas nodded. “Of course Dean.”

John gave them the stink eye, making no move to leave them.

“Privately?” Dean all but growled and jerked his head towards the other end of the hallway. Cas nodded and headed off in the direction of their room. Dean glanced at his father who remained in the hallway scowling at them. That battle wasn’t over, but Dean put it out of his mind for now.

The moment their door closed, Cas was all over him, his hands searching out Dean’s injuries, touching whatever available skin he could find. Dean could feel Cas’s grace running through him, healing the cuts he had begged off earlier. Once Cas was certain he was completely healed he slammed Dean back into the door, claiming his lips in a fierce kiss.

“Don’t you ever pretend you’re not hurt again just to appease your father” Cas growled, his eyes flashing.

Dean ran his hands up and down the Angel’s back and nipped at Cas’s lips. “Ok.”

“Everyone cannot keep walking on eggshells to keep him happy!”

“I know Cas. You’re right.” Dean said between kisses, pulling the Angel closer to him so that they were flush against each other and the door. He pushed Cas’s trench coat off his shoulders and let it fall to the floor.

“What’s going to happen when Rowena arrives?” Cas continued to argue.

“Rowena can take care of herself,” Dean mumbled as he kissed down Cas’s neck and slipped his hands down to Cas’s ass, squeezing it and grinding their hips together.

Cas’s eyes fluttered and he moaned softly. “What if he pulls a gun on Jack?”

“I won’t let him, Cas,” Dean said, opening his legs so Cas could grind against him properly, his fingers stroking Cas’s hole through his pants.

“D-Dean!” Cas stuttered. “You’re very ha-hard to argue with right now.”

“I know.” Dean grinned, grinding his trapped erection into Cas’s hip.

“You’re being too agreeable,” Cas grumbled before choking out another moan as Dean’s talented fingers unbuckled his pants and slipped inside to grasp his erection. Dean stroked Cas slowly, kissing him again. Moments later Cas freed him from his pants, shoving them down Dean’s legs before taking both of their erections in hand.

Dean moaned. “Love the feel of you, want you so bad.”

“You have me Dean,” Cas murmured as he kissed up his neck and across his jaw before kissing Dean dirty, all teeth and tongue. “When this is over,” he promised, “I will take you apart slowly.” His hand sped up, twisting lightly at the top of his stroke in a way he knew Dean liked, spreading their precome.

 _“Properly.”_ Dean all but vibrated, his hips thrusting up into Cas’s hand, his shoulders digging into the wood of the door and his arms clinging to the Angel in front of him.

Cas whispered into his ear. “And everyone in the Bunker will hear you scream my name.”

Dean all but whimpered before he came all over Cas’s hand. Cas kept stroking, Dean’s spend helping to slick the way. He let go as Dean became too sensitive, stroking himself a couple more times before he too, came all over Dean’s shirt. They kissed softly for a minute as the endorphins rushed through their system. Finally, Cas stepped back.

Dean grinned at Cas’s debauched state. His dress shirt was wrinkled beyond help, his hair in even more disarray than usual even though Dean didn’t remember running his hands through it, and his pants at his knees. The grin slipped when he took in his own state, especially Cas’s cum dripping down his shirt. “Fuck. If I change they’re going to notice.”

Cas smirked at him. “Would serve you right for seducing me when I’m arguing with you.”

“You were so fucking hot fighting today, I couldn’t help myself.” Dean grinned and Cas rolled his eyes good-naturedly. With a swish of his hand, they were both clean and dry again, without a hair out of place.

Dean grinned “I love you. And not just because of the whole...” he waved his hand in the air, “mojo thing - although it IS convenient for clean up.”

Cas shook his head and smiled. “I love you too, Dean.”

 

~

 

Sam rolled his eyes at them as they walked into the room, late for the meeting. Everyone else might not know what they had been up to, but no matter how clean they were, or how well they schooled their faces, Sammy knew exactly why they were late. John, on the other hand, hopefully still had no idea, but Dean was sure his lack of injury hadn’t gone unnoticed. 

“Reports are now coming in from across the country confirming Charlie and Rowena’s theory on monster movements,” Sam said to the room at large once everyone had settled down. “The population of monsters across the United States - or rather North America - is on the move, and they’re coming here.”

This announcement was met with a wall of sound as everyone started talking and shouting all at once.

Sam raised his hands for quiet, and slowly but surely everyone stopped to listen.

“Unfortunately, there is more. From the mission that Dean and Cas went on, we now know that many of our normal methods of putting down these types of creatures are not working. Specifically, deadman's blood and silver.”

The wall of sound was back.

Sam held up his hands again, this time the gathered group fell silent faster.

“Decapitation is still viable, as is using Angel blades. This, however, presents a problem as getting close enough to use these methods is becoming more and more difficult. Even our larger groups are quickly becoming overwhelmed by the sheer number of monsters gathering. Ketch likened it to an army.”

“Or a horde” Dean muttered.

“So what’s the plan then? Do we go out and meet it? Or wait for it here?” Claire called out from the crowd.

“We can’t just hide in here!” John growled.

“But we can’t just go out and about, all willy-nilly-like, and be slaughtered without a plan either,” Bobby defended.

“We need to be strategic,” Mary added.

“The longer we wait the more people will die! We must act now!” Jack argued.

The room started getting louder and louder as more voices joined in the debate.

Sam held up his hand yet again for silence, but no one paid him any mind. “Everyone!” he called out, before eventually shouting. “Enough!”

Finally, everyone stopped to look at him, most of them out of their seats, twitchy and anxious.

“There are too many of them and not enough of us. They are moving quickly — both at night and during the day — without injury. They move with purpose and attack without hesitation or self-preservation. If we allow the horde to march here, we will have a better chance of winning, This is a fortified position that we can make even stronger, and pick them off as we need. Plus it will help to empty North America of its monster populations and ultimately keep more people safe.”

“Won’t we run out of food and stuff?” one of the new Hunters asked.

“Not if we start organizing now and gathering all of the supplies we can in the next twenty-four hours.”

“Why twenty-four hours?” Jack asked.

“Because current estimates place the largest groups — those coming out of Kansas City, Oklahoma City and Denver — to be somewhere in the range of a day and a half, to two days out from us. And we can use that time to fortify the Bunker once everyone gets back,” Sam replied, causing the group to begin whispering in earnest.

“Someone should tell the town what’s coming,” Patience said, causing most of the heads in the room to swivel in her direction.

Dean stepped forward. “We will. Lebanon may not know exactly what we do, but we’ve been here long enough for most people to know to pay attention when we start preparing for something big. We’ll talk to the police chief and encourage them to evacuate.”

“And if they don’t?” Claire snarked.

“Sometimes all you can do is show people the path, whether they choose to follow? Well, that’s on them.” Sam, Dean and Cas shared a look between them. Team Free Will.

“Speaking of, if anyone wants to leave, please do so now, while there are still open roads available to you. Know that if you go, you go with our gratitude and our respect for the help you have given us thus far.” Sam looked around the room, and no one moved.

“Thank you, everyone. Make sure you get some rest tonight. We have a full day tomorrow, and I honestly don’t know how much rest we will get after that.”


	9. John

John Winchester leaned against a wall listening to Sam’s briefing. Nothing about this world he had returned to made sense. His youngest was in charge of a group of Hunters, his eldest was calling a Monster family, and his wife was a Hunter, distant and cold. Maybe this was an alternate universe, like the one this new strange Bobby had come from. He watched the crowd looking for defiance or confusion and found none. If the Witch/Angel/Monster, whatever it was, had deceived Dean, it must have done it to the whole group. Not even Mary had flinched at the mention of the Angel blades. Was he the only one being kept in the dark?

_**//They don’t trust you//** _

“Can we talk?” John asked Mary gruffly, reaching out to grab her arm as she went by. She dodged the contact but nodded to him after a moment, and lead him down the hallway to her room. Notably in the opposite direction to his.

Once the door was closed John looked around the sparse and utilitarian room, just like the one they had given him down the other end of the hallway. The sharp pain of disappointment lashed through him again at the remembrance.

 

 

“This one is yours,” Sam had said, pointing to a nondescript door in a long hallway of matching doors. It’s only distinguishing feature, the number 3 bolted to it. John had opened it to a bland, military-esque room with a table, bed, closet and small sink with a mirror above it. He nodded, he’d had worse. There was one thing missing, however. He turned back to his youngest, who stood in the hallway. 

“And your mother?”

“She has her own room,” Sam stated, clearly uninterested in sharing any more information about that particular topic. “The showers and bathroom are at the end of the hall, and you’ve already seen the kitchen. If you need anything, just ask someone.” John heard the _“else”_ at the end of the sentence clear as day, and he nodded at Sam. He turned to ask another question, but Sam had already turned and walked away down the hall.

 

 

It was the last time Sam had spoken to him directly since he had arrived.

“This all yours then?” 

“Yes. When I’m here.” Mary said with a shrug. “It’s not much, but it has everything I need.”

John looked around again, taking in weapons on the dresser, his journal on her side table, her clothing in the half-open closet and a go-bag on the floor. She had kept his journal. Hope bloomed inside of him. Maybe there was space for him here in her life after all.

“You... Uh... Hunt a lot?”

“I did for a while when I first got back,” Mary said with a sigh, sitting down on the bed. “Everything was so strange and different, and I needed time.”

John nodded. Maybe she would understand. John hesitated at the door instead of sitting beside Mary on the bed.

“The Boys took it really hard at first, especially Dean.” Mary looked at her hands “But I think we are moving in the right direction, now.”

“They keep you in the dark about what’s going on too?” John scowled.

“No,” she said with a frown. “They opened their home and their hearts to me right away, it was…overwhelming actually.” Mary looked down at her hands for a moment. “There are so many changes between the world I remember and the one I live in now…The internet is extremely useful though.”

“So you believe all this nonsense about Castiel being an Angel?”

“Yes. Of course, I do, because he is one.” Mary looked surprised and frustrated.

“But Mary! Surely you know that there is no such thing as Angels!”

“I surely know there are. Did you ever ask Bobby what had gone wrong in his world? Why they needed rescuing? Who their war was against?”

John shifted his weight on his feet for a moment. “I ... Hadn’t gotten to hear the story yet, no.”

“Have you gotten to any story yet? Or have you just been questioning everything without waiting to hear the answers?”

John immediately flushed in embarrassment and anger. “Doesn’t matter. I don’t like how this Angel, or whatever it is, seems to have manipulated our boys into protecting it. How it walks around free in a group of Hunters like it’s bewitched all of them - even you!”

“He’s not an it. He’s a he!” Mary stood up, anger written all over her face. “I might not have been back all that long, but I have never in my life seen anyone as dedicated to someone else’s well being as Castiel is to Sam, Dean and Jack. I’m trying to tell you about our sons John, and you keep fixating on Castiel! You need to let this go and open your eyes to see the men our sons have become, and the family they have created for themselves without us.” Mary scowled and pushed past John to the door. She hesitated in the hallway,

“Our sons are amazing Hunters because they know when to do their research. Please do yours before you assume I’d let a dangerous person continue to stand side by side with our sons.”

John stood there, stunned. He’d come to Mary hoping she would understand, hoping she would see the danger that this Castiel represented. That Mary, above all people, should have put their boys first. And yet, here he stood, on one side of the divide, while his wife stood on the other, insisting that a monster was family. It was simply incomprehensible. And here she was getting angry at him for what? Questioning her abilities as a Hunter? Something she’d kept hidden from him for their whole marriage?

John seethed. Why was everything so hard and twisted in this place? Why couldn’t anyone see that he was just trying to do the right thing?

_**//They need protecting from themselves.//** _

He would need to be vigilant. He’d listen to the stories, he’d make nice with the people here, but ultimately he would protect himself and his family from this and any threat. Even if that threat came from within.


	10. Dean

“So how fucked are we really, Sammy?” Dean asked stepping close to his brother as everyone else filed out of the War Room. 

Sam grimaced “Honestly? It’s not good. Best case scenario, we find and stop the source before we are completely surrounded.”

“Yeah, and if we don’t?”

“We all die of starvation long before we are able to kill even a third of the horde.”

“Jesus, Sam.”

Sam sighed and ran his hands through his hair. Dean noted that his brother was starting to look even more worse for wear than usual. Leadership was taking its toll. Had he even slept at all in the past 48 hours?

“I didn’t think the “oh god, oh god, we’re all gonna to die” speech would’ve been very helpful, Dean. They have to feel like we’re in control. That we have a plan. That we could win.” Sam explained.

“We can win though… right?” Dean asked

“Yes, if we can eliminate the source. We just need to do it sooner rather than later. Logistically speaking, once they start arriving, we might see a couple thousand monsters in the first few hours, after a couple of days that number will have risen to 20 or even 30 thousand. A couple weeks in? They could easily be one hundred thousand strong.”

Dean paled. “Fuck.”

Sam nodded. “It’s not quite the end of the world, but…”

“It’s the end of us,” Dean said with a nod. _It must be Tuesday._ “Did you hear from Garth?”

Sam shook his head. “Not yet. I left him a couple of messages... Also, about Dad—”

Dean groaned.

“You need to talk with him, Dean,” Sam argued.

“I know. I know. Listen, he found out that Cas is an Angel while we were out, and that’s half the battle right there right? Mind you, the first thing he did was pull a gun on Cas,” Dean said rubbing a hand down his face.

Sam sent him a dark look. “That can’t happen again.”

“I know.”

The brothers stared at each other for a moment, running through scenarios in their heads. Most of them ended in death.

“Simply stopping him from killing Cas isn’t good enough Dean, you know that. He’s been upsetting people - people like Cas and Mom. And fuck it - me too.”

“Yeah, yeah, Sammy, I’ll take care of it.”

“He’s also upsetting you,” Sam said softly. “You were so happy before he arrived, happier than I’ve seen you in a long time.”

“Okay, Sam. I got it,” Dean responded heavily.

Sam paused, about to continue but then he stopped, his eyes locking onto something or someone behind Dean. He laid a hand on Dean’s shoulder and nodded to him before walking away.

“Dean?”

“Yeah, Cas?” Dean looked up from his chair, unsurprised to see to see the Angel standing beside him, bowl in-hand. He was not smiling, worry lines crossing his forehead.

“You should eat something.” He said passing the bowl of chilli over.

“Thanks, Cas,” Dean said, taking the bowl and spoon from him.

Cas nodded and sat beside Dean. They sat in companionable silence while Dean devoured the chilli.

“S’good”

“Jack made it”

“Really?” Dean asked, surprised.

“He may have had some help.” Castiel smiled, “but he wanted to do something for everyone since we were all so busy.”

“He’s a good kid.”

“Yes, he is,” Cas replied before he reached out to take Dean’s unoccupied hand, rubbing his thumb across Dean’s knuckles. Dean startled and looked around before relaxing. Cas frowned but said nothing. They held hands while Dean ate.

“Are you going to help Sam with the warding?” Dean asked once he had finished eating.

“Yes. And you’re going to build traps?”

“Yeah, was thinking I’d ask Dad to help, give us time to talk.”

“I think that’s a good idea.”

Dean leaned over and kissed Cas softly. “I’m really sorry about my dad, Cas.”

“Your father is who he is, Dean. He doesn’t concern me. You do,” Cas replied gravely, squeezing Dean’s hands.

Dean nodded and sighed. “I’m trying, Cas.”

“I know—“

“Dean!” John called as he came down the hallway.

Dean jumped back so hard he had to grab the back of his chair to ensure it remained upright. He didn’t have time to shoot Cas a guilty look before his father walked into the War Room.

“I believe you owe me an explanation,” John demanded, looking back and forth between them.

“Err…” Dean hedged as he moved to stand in between Cas and his father. An explanation? For what? For him and Cas? Had he seen them together? Was he going to have a go at Cas again? Dean would not hesitate to aim his gun at him if he did. Dean would not be caught off guard a second time, and he would not fail to protect Cas. Ever again. 

“You promised me a full explanation before. About everything …” John’s eyes shifted to Cas and then back to Dean “that happened after I was gone.”

“Right. Uh… I was just about to do a perimeter walk. I could use your expertise.”

John nodded and Dean looked back to Cas, apologetically. “See you later, Cas.” Dean’s fingers itched with wanting to touch the Angel before he left the room, wanted to squeeze his fingers, place a kiss on his forehead, anything. Instead, he turned away and lead his father out of the Bunker.

Dean set out towards the north-west corner first, hands in his pockets. They would have to make this fast, the light was dying quickly with the setting sun.

“Glad the Bunker is under a hill, it will help,” Dean commented as they walked. John stayed silent - it looked like he was going to wait him out. Dean wished he had brought a shovel or something with them so he could dig or mark spots or do anything to keep his hands busy.

“A lot has happened since you died.”

“I can see that.”

“Uh…” Dean floundered. How much detail should he go into? The broad strokes? The deaths and resurrections? The things that they were proud of? The things they weren’t? Maybe just the stuff that put Cas in the best light? He almost snorted to himself at that thought. As if his Dad wouldn’t see through that right away. He definitely needed to skip Sam’s demon-blood drinking days, his Lucifer PTSD, and his friendship with Rowena even though John was going to find out about that last one soon enough. Dean wasn’t going to be the one to rat out his brother though. Should he mention the Mark of Cain and becoming a demon? Probably not. That time he was a vampire for a hot minute? That time he was best friends with one? Dean sighed. This was one of those rare times he wished the Winchester Gospels had continued if only so he could shove the books into his father’s hands and be done with it. Then again…

“Sam and I both died for the first time within a year of you dying. I failed to protect him.” Dean clenched his fists. _How many times have I failed to protect him?_ “I made a demon deal to bring him back. I went to Hell a year later, and … spent some time there. It was Cas who stormed the gates and saved me, called me the Righteous Man, the Michael Sword and the person who could help Heaven in their war against Lucifer. Sam and I are true vessels of Archangels. But, unlike demons, they need their host’s consent for possession. So we said ‘fuck no’ and became Team Free Will — me, Sammy, Bobby — our Bobby — and Cas. We weren’t going to just follow what Heaven or I guess… fate wanted for us, and so we stopped the apocalypse.” Dean took a breath and glanced at his father walking beside him, waiting for some sort of reaction. John’s face was unreadable.

“So Angels need permission to take possession?” John asked.

“Uh…yeah.” Dean paused, waiting for more, but when no follow-up questions came, he carried on. “A lot of things happened after that, Sam went to hell — Cas saved him too. Cas and I spent a year in purgatory. Sam and I met both of our grandfathers, your father was time travelling and introduced us to the Men of Letters.” Dean gestured to the Bunker behind them.

“We almost closed Hell, then Heaven _was_ closed and all of the Angels fell to earth. Cas became human for a while.” Dean grimaced, he didn’t think he’d ever forgive himself for everything that had happened that year. Not Ezekiel, not Kevin, and certainly not Cas.

“I took on the Mark of Cain and… uh…lost myself for a while. Sam and Cas brought me back, and we released the Darkness — Chuck’s uh… —God’s sister. They were reunited, reconciled and in thanks, they brought Mom back to us.”

Dean paused again. Best not to mention Jack…entirely. “A rift between worlds was opened and that’s how we found this Bobby. In his world, we didn’t exist and so the apocalypse happened. A world the Angels destroyed. Their version of Michael managed to find his way back into this world when we returned, and that’s who we’re fighting against now.”

Dean was going to have to do another perimeter walk after this one, to actually do his goddamn job. This conversation was way too distracting. They had already completed a third of the circuit.

“You should put some bear traps here,” John said pointing to a dip in the terrain. “The partial cover will help to disguise them”

Dean nodded. “We can do that.”

“The wi—Angel said you boys died fifteen times between you. You only mentioned once.”

“Errr…yeah. We have…it’s been a busy twelve years.” Dean said not looking at his father.

“And… Castiel brought you back each time?” John asked.

“Not every time, no. Sometimes that was Death himself—er—herself. Or Chuck. But yeah, Cas helped a lot. He’s died a number of times for us as well. Brought back by Chuck a couple of times too, and by his own determination once.”

He never thought he’d see Cas again that last time. God’s favourite Angel, dead without hope of resurrection. Dean rubbed his chest absentmindedly. Even though Cas was back, and whole and they were together, the pain of that death still lingered.

Dean raked his eyes over the terrain trying to distract himself. The Bunker really was well situated for a strong defence. Sitting beneath a hill with a forest on two sides, with only one road going in and out. Not a bad place to hold up really… except what they were fighting against wouldn’t come by car, and weren’t likely to fall for stupid traps like the ones set up for zombies on The Walking Dead. Still, if they could boobie-trap the forest, it would slow them down at least, maybe dig a trench in the road with spikes?

“You got any landmines?” John said looking critically at the road.

“Not sure, but I’m sure we can cook something up.” _Maybe Rowena could help with that._

John nodded and continued walking. “So you’ve met God?” he asked, almost conversationally.

Dean risked a glance at his father, only to find the man sporting the same unreadable face that he’d had throughout their conversation. “A couple times now. He’s kind of a dick.”

John was quiet for a bit after that. They had walked for another five minutes before he spoke again.

“So, Angels want to destroy the world then?” He said.

 _Christ on a Cracker*. Of course, that’s what he would focus on._ “No, not in this version of reality, at least. Here Angels are just dicks. Lucifer is evil. Zachariah, Raphael, Metatron and Naomi just liked power-tripping.”

He would be happy to never hear their names again. The pain and suffering that they caused…that they still cause. He knew that Cas still carried the guilt over killing hundreds of his siblings, the pain of the resets and the rejection by his family. Dean looked away from his father and continued walking, John keeping step with him.

“Balthazar was …well different. Hannah was loyal.” Dean forced himself not to grimace. Hindsight allowed him to see his anger and distrust of her stemmed from his jealousy over her relationship with Cas.

“Gabriel was... or potentially is an annoying but useful ally. Michael was … Michael is … unflinching in his convictions that he is doing the right thing.” _Even if it meant using me as a suit to start the apocalypse or destroy the human race._

Dean was glad that his father couldn’t see his face as they walked. “Cas is the best of them. Castiel, Angel of Thursday. Member of Team Free Will. Leader of the Angel rebellion. Our best friend.” _And love of my fucking life._

John didn’t say anything, he just reached into the trees they were walking beside. He tugged on a few branches and disturbed the soil with his boot. “Tripwires would work in here.”

“Uh. Yeah. That’s a good idea, thanks.” _Tell him! Nut up Winchester!_  
John nodded and they continued their walk up the hill, partially through the forest.

“We have lost so many people over the years. We are grateful for the allies we have. Even if you might think some of them unconventional.”

John frowned and turned to Dean. “You got more monsters running about, boy?”

Dean turned to face his father, and took a couple of calming breaths, before forcefully unclenching his hands. “There are no monsters here, Dad. And you need to treat our allies with respect or, at the very least, civility, otherwise you might find yourself outmatched.”

John scoffed. “I haven’t gone soft. I won’t be caught unawares.”

John’s earlier comment rang through his ears, and Dean tried not to deflate.

“I haven’t gone soft either,” Dean said quietly, not looking at his father.

“I am much stronger now, knowing and accepting who I am.” He looked up and held his father’s gaze. He hoped his face didn’t betray the thoughts spiralling in his head. _If I have truly accepted myself, why I am still hiding Cas?_

“I thought this was going to be a history lesson, not a chick flick moment,” John grunted in return.

Dean stalled. Hearing the expression come out of his father’s mouth again made him queasy with regret. He and Sam had finally gotten to the point where they could talk about how they were feeling and actually being there for each other — and it was such a relief to both of them. Not having to carry the burden of this life alone while standing side by side. Dean silently vowed to never use the expression again. He took a deep breath.

“Yeah well there’s a lot of fucking terrible things that happened to us, so deal with it or I can end the explanation now.”

John rolled his eyes and made a motion with his hand for Dean to continue. But before he could, John cut in.

“Is that Jack-kid an Angel too?”

“What?” Dean croaked, failing to keep his surprise hidden.

“He’s odd. And looks just like Castiel. In fact, that new girl Claire looks just like him too.”

“They have no more powers than you or me Dad,” Dean said. His mind raced as his desire to protect the two young people became nearly overwhelming. “Claire is related to Cas’s original human vessel, and we saved Jack from a bad situation where magic was involved, so think of it like… he was homeschooled before we found him.”

John said nothing, and Dean wondered how much his father had believed. Not even Cas could explain why Jack looked more like his own son rather than Lucifer’s, other than that it had been a choice Jack had made in the womb. And that certainly wasn’t an explanation that Dean was going to share with John.

John nodded but said nothing.

“We should probably seal up the front door and work from the garage. The tunnel will help us to bottleneck the horde and give us more room to manoeuvre. Plus the two inside doors leading to the rest of the Bunker are both reinforced and nearly impenetrable, adding another line of defence. The whole property will do that really, but it wouldn’t hurt to narrow the battlefield further,” Dean said, wincing as he thought about how much damage the cars and Baby would take if the horde made it into the garage.

He turned towards the setting sun and checked his watch, they had to get inside before it became too dark to see.

“Sam has done a great job creating a Hunter network - helps us all stay in touch and share resources. We aren’t alone anymore. You’re going to meet more of them soon, and we can’t have you going off on them like you did with Cas, ok? They are our allies and they make us stronger.”

Dean hoped that they would arrive soon - before the horde rolled in. As much as he wasn’t looking forward to having another John Winchester witch-related blowout when Rowena and Max arrived, they desperately needed all the help they could get.

“Let's go see what we can find in storage to help with all of this, and then go get some rest,” Dean suggested, heading back inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * For [Destimushi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/destimushi/pseuds/destimushi) :)


	11. Cas

Castiel finished another incantation that strengthened the wards of the Bunker. He frowned, not feeling the shift in the magics around him. Maybe he had gotten something wrong. He re-read the instructions, and the incantation and evaluated everything he had done. No, it was correct.

“Sam?”

“Yeah, Cas?” Sam looked up from where he was standing over a large tomb at the other end of the table, a bowl of smoking items sitting beside him.

“Something is wrong. The magic didn’t shift.”

Sam walked over and glanced at the page and then at Cas’s preparations.

“We’ll have Rowena check it when she gets here.”

Cas nodded. “I will move on to the next one then.”

He turned the page and started reading up on the next protection spell, but the more he read, the less material he was absorbing. Dean was taking up all his mental space.

Even though Dean had promised back in Jody’s basement to tell his father about them, it hadn’t happened yet — even when John had threatened Castiel’s life on the roadway. The only word Dean had come up with was family. While true, the word also represented years of fear, denial and miscommunication between them and Castiel couldn’t help but feel that Dean was stepping back every time he said it. The way they had clung to each other in their room, only to have Dean barely look at him whenever his father was present was enough to give anyone emotional whiplash. He knew that Dean’s issues with his father ran deep, so deep that it had taken Dean years to be able to talk about anything that was going on with him — even to Sam. But he had been so free and open and happy after expelling Michael and breaking through the last of his barriers – enough to tell Castiel he loved him – that to see him backslide was hard to watch. Really hard to watch, and nothing Castiel did seemed to be enough to reassure Dean or to help him. Castiel wanted to believe that Dean would tell John about the true nature of their relationship while on their perimeter walk, but he knew better.

Castiel looked up at Sam, who had moved back down to the other end of the table. His hand hovered over the bowl while he chanted softly. Sam would have a better understanding of what Dean was like with his father, or if there was anything Castiel could do to help. But John was Sam’s father too, and it hadn’t escaped Castiel’s notice that the younger Winchester had almost entirely ignored and withdrawn from his father’s presence. Maybe he would not want to speak about John either. Castiel certainly didn’t want to hurt Sam by bringing it up. On the other hand, maybe Sam needed someone to talk about it since Dean seemed so unwilling to?

He had been so focused on his inner turmoil that he didn’t even notice when Sam finished the spell and started talking to him.

“Cas. Cas?”

“Oh. I’m sorry Sam, What did you say?”

“I asked if you were ok.”

“Yes. No, I mean.” Castiel sighed. “I was wondering if I should ask you the same question.”

Sam blinked before smiling at him. “Yeah, Cas, I’m ok. I mean, I know I’ve been better, but I’m not sick or dying or… grieving. So that has to tip the scales into good right?”

“It doesn’t have to,” Castiel said, shaking his head “I know it’s not enough because I look at Dean and…” Cas trailed off for a moment. “It’s because of John, correct?”

Sam sighed and nodded his head. “That’s part of it yeah.”

Castiel waited Sam out, a tactic he found incredibly useful with Dean. And just as he predicted, Sam continued talking without prompting.

“I fought with him a lot before he died. We didn’t really get along at all, so it’s hard to pretend that we did, just because he’s back now… It was different with Mary. I never got to have a mom, so when she came back it was just a gift. Albeit not the one we had envisioned,” Sam said with a wry smile.

“Whereas with John,” Sam’s smile fell into a frown as he crossed his arms, “he’s just a reminder of a shitty childhood. And the propagator of a toxic atmosphere he insists on everyone living in because of his stupid rules and expectations. It’s not good or healthy and I want no part of it —or him.”

Sam looked back down at the book he had been using for the spell and turned the page.  
Castiel knew he wasn’t reading anything, but gave Sam the space he needed to reorganize his thoughts.

“John’s my father but not the person who raised me, you know? That’s Dean. Which is why it’s so hard to watch him try to flip back and forth between the person he created to survive Dad and the man he is now.”

Castiel nodded. “I worry about what will happen to him, to you, to everyone here at the Bunker if things continue as they have been.” Sam looked at him, compassion written in every line of his face, and Castiel continued softly. “What will happen to me…to our relationship.”

Sam moved back over to Castiel’s end of the table and pulled him into a hug. “We’ll figure it out, Cas. We always do.”


	12. Mary

The next morning, Mary paced back and forth in her room, grappling with the decision to call Max Banes. He deserved to be warned. He’d had a hard enough life losing his mother and then his sister. Mary owed him this phone call. But they needed every hand on deck for this fight. She’d also be going directly against Sam’s orders if she made this call, not to mention what Dean would think. Maybe there was another way. No. No there wasn’t. This must be done. Finally, she sighed and hit his number in the touch-phone she was still getting used to using.

“Max?” Mary said into the phone when the ringer stopped.

The voice of Max Banes responded. “Yes? Who is this?”

“Oh, sorry, this is Mary. Mary Winchester.”

“Oh yeah, hey Mary. What can I help you with?”

Mary took a deep breath. This was important. This was to protect Max. No. This was to protect Dean and Castiel.

“I know that my son Sam asked you to come fight with us. But I need you to not make it in time.”

“Okay…that’s…not what I thought you were going to say. What’s wrong?”

“It’s… a long story. One that I don’t have time to get into right now. Just know that you will not be safe here.”

“Well, it’s a battle Mary, that comes with the territory,” Max joked.

“No,” Mary paused, in for a penny as they say. “I mean you’re not safe here, with us. There’s a Hunter here who doesn’t like witches.” _Way to make it sound impersonal, Mary._

Max paused on the other side. “To the point where they would try to kill me despite the greater fight?”

“Yes.”

“And they can’t be reasoned with?”

Mary closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “No. And even if they could be, who you are would make you a target as well.”

Max was quiet again.

“I’m so sorry, Max” Mary sighed.

“Since when have you been harbouring witch-hating homophobes?”

“About a week,” Mary confessed and sat down heavily on the bed. “It’s such a mess. I don’t even…. It’s not safe here. Not even for…” the words died on her tongue. Dean had been very guarded about his personal life before he and Castiel had gotten together. He certainly hadn’t been hiding it since, by any means, or at least he hadn’t until John arrived, but Claire had been going over the finer points of how damaging “outing” someone could be.

“Not even for… Dean?” Max guessed.

“Yes,” Mary whispered. “I didn’t know if you knew…”

“I’ve known about Dean’s sexuality-crisis for years. He’s like a walking neon sign when you know what to look for.” Max huffed a laugh.

“Not anymore,” Mary said smugly.

“Oh?”

“After we got rid of Michael — from possessing Dean — he and Castiel just sort of figured it out. It was a bit odd for me at first. But my son is happy, you know? That’s all I could ever really want for him.”

“You’re a good mom, Mary.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” she said thinking about the conversation her and Dean had while he was in her head.

_I hate you, and I love you, I can’t help it._

They had been better after that, but she knew that it would never be enough. Her boys had suffered for years, decades, because of her choices, and no matter how loving and supportive she was now, she would never be able to make it up to them. Not truly.

“It’s ok, Mary…. Really I was thinking w—I could pick off monsters on their way over to you guys anyways. That way I could still be helping, but be out of the way.”

“That’s an excellent idea, Max. I’ll bring it up with Sam, see if more Hunters want to help out that way, especially since they don’t have much time left to get here. In fact, I don’t like the idea of you being alone out there...we can send some Hunters your way.”

“Sounds good. But Mary, don’t worry too much about me, I can hold my own.”

“I know you can. But humour me, ok?”

“...maybe.”

“Anyways, It’s good to have an outside pair of eyes and ears. You’ll keep us informed?”

“Will do.”

“Stay safe, Max. And thanks again.”

“You too, Mary, thanks for the heads up. And Mary?”

“Yes?”

“I hope you figure it out…how to deal with whoever this person is that is threatening your family. For what it’s worth? No matter how many hands you need, destructive ones aren’t worth it.”

“Thanks, Max. I’ll deal with it.”

“I know you will. Take care.”

“You too.”

Mary hung up the phone and stared at her door. Telling Sam about this development would be easy. He would see through the strategy to its real purpose immediately, but hopefully, he would also be grateful to have the outside eyes and ears for the battle ahead. John, on the other hand, was much more difficult. Mary was torn. Since he’d been back, she’d purposefully kept her distance. She knew it was making him angry and frustrated, but she simply wasn’t the person he used to know, and after all of the things she had heard about her children’s lives, she knew that he wasn’t the same person she’d married either. Time, grief and rage had warped and transformed John into someone nearly unrecognizable. Were they even still married? They had certainly fulfilled the ‘Till Death Do Us Part’ a couple of times over at this point.

A soft knock at her door broke Mary from her turbulent thoughts. “Come in.”

Bobby opened the door and stuck his head in. He paused when he saw her. “You ok?”

Mary smiled, shook her head, and then nodded. “Yes… No… I will be. They need us? 

“Yeah.”

“Ok, I’m coming.”


	13. Dean

Dean came up from one of the many storage rooms, arms laden down with everything he could find to build traps with. Jack followed after him, carrying just as much, eager as ever to be helpful. They came through the main room in time to see Charlie and Rowena walk in from the garage. It was hard to see Charlie and not be able to scoop her up into a hug. To see her face and not have it split into the widest grin at her latest antics or his. It was hard to see _this_ Charlie and not desperately wish for _his_ Charlie; the little sister he never knew he needed or wanted until he had her. And boy did he need her now. This Charlie looked healthy and whole, but to describe her as cheerful would be out of the question, happy would even be a stretch. 

“Hey, Charlie,” he said with a grin, unable to help himself. At least having his arms full helped to negate his need to hug her.

She nodded at him. “Morning...Setting up traps?”

“Yeah.”

Rowena eyed the items in his arms. “Do you need help there, dearie?” Seeing Rowena, on the other hand, always made him feel more than a little uneasy, but right now, she was exactly what they needed.

“That would be great actually. Hoping you could boost some of these.”

“We should hurry then,” Rowena said, gesturing for Dean to lead on towards the War Room instead of back the way they came. Dean hesitated before turning to Charlie. “Go talk to Sam, he’ll fill you in on what’s been going on.”

Charlie raised an eyebrow at him.

“He means how his father, John Winchester, is back from the dead, threatening Castiel and making everyone uncomfortable!” Jack supplied cheerfully. Dean closed his eyes for a moment. One of these days everything would just go smoothly. Probably. Maybe. Who was he kidding? Never. It was never just going to go smoothly. He opened them again to find Charlie and Rowena staring at him.

“What?” he groused. “He’s not wrong. We gonna do this Rowena?”

“In a moment, first there is an important matter we must discuss with Samuel and the handsome Angel,” Rowena responded.

Dean frowned.

“She’s being legit, Dean. You’ll want to hear this too,” Charlie said.

Dean nodded and gestured with his head for them to take the lead.

The women went ahead and Jack looked to Dean questioningly.

Dean nodded and shrugged. “Might as well kid.”

They followed Charlie and Rowena through the Bunker’s maze of passages until they reached the group sitting at the table. Sam lit up like a Christmas tree when he saw them. Dean didn’t know which of the women this show of joy was for, but he wasn’t going to look at it too closely to find out either. Cas also looked up, but his smile of greeting was for Dean. Mary briefly glanced up from the tome she was reading, while Bobby studied the women more closely. Claire and Patience looked on curiously from large comfy chairs that had somehow migrated into the library on their own.

“Charlie! Rowena! I’m glad you both could make it,” Sam said, standing up and coming around the table towards them. He stopped himself just in time from hugging Charlie - the brothers had found out quite quickly that she really didn’t like it.

“Sam,” Charlie said in greeting. “We have news.”

“Samuel,” Rowena said. “You may want to sit down."

Sam’s face fell. Even after all of these years Dean still felt that in the gut. That kicked puppy look hurt every single time. Sam nodded and gestured to the table, his face grim and determined. Dean unloaded all of the materials in his arms onto the table, with Jack following suit right after. The bitch face Sam sent him for covering the books was fully worth the hassle of having to pick them all up again later. He then took a seat next to Cas.

“We have seen large sections of the horde, watched their movements, completed some…research,” Rowena paused, “followed a few leads.”

“You did Magic, yes, we got it, Rowena. What else?” Dean said impatiently.

“We know what’s compelling the wee beasties,” Rowena said with a flourish.

“And?” Sam prompted.

“And you’re going to need a different kind of trap than the ones you’re planning on laying outside, that’s for sure.”

Bobby grit his teeth while Mary frowned.

“Oh for fuck’s sake Rowena.”Charlie griped. “It’s Michael. Michael is compelling all of the monsters.”

The table went quiet.

Dean’s mind raced. He knew it was too good to be true. That it wasn’t just the Alphas suddenly playing nice for a common goal. That Michael hadn’t been banished completely or forced back to heaven indefinitely. That his own escape from Michael’s clutches would cost thousands of lives. That this was all his fault.

Dean hadn’t even noticed he had completely zoned out of the conversation and had started to shake until Cas clasped one of his hands and steadied him, slowly bringing Dean back to himself. Dean looked up at Cas, who smiled softly at him.

“It’s not your fault,” he said quietly.

Dean stared at him for a long moment, wanting to believe Cas, needing to believe him, but struggling to do so. Cas’s stare was as unwavering as his belief, and Dean finally relented, nodding. Dean glanced around quickly, before pulling Cas’s hand up to his mouth to kiss. “Thanks, Cas.”

Dean’s little side-trip had not gone unnoticed by the rest of the group, but they mercifully hadn’t said anything.

“So, we need to stop Michael,” Sam said.

“We need to kill him,” Mary said.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t kill him when I had my powers! I could have done it! I know that I could have…” Jack cut in, clearly upset.

“It’s not your fault Jack,” Cas said, making eye contact with the Nephilim. “We all did what we could at the time.” He couldn’t reach Jack from across Dean, so Sam did it for him, placing a hand on Jack’s shoulder.

“Cas is right. The only person at fault for this mess is Michael. Not you, or Dean or Cas or me. Place the blame where it belongs, on the one causing the problem.”

Jack nodded but didn’t look convinced. Dean ruffled Jack’s hair with his free hand but said nothing.

“So what’s the plan?” Bobby asked looking back and forth between Sam and Rowena.

“We must summon the Archangel and then kill him,” Rowena stated. “It’s the only way to be sure.”

“Oh, is that all?” Dean snarked. “Cause they are so easy to summon and kill.”

“I didn’t say it was going to be easy. Just that it needed to be done,” Rowena sniped back. “And you needn’t be involved if you don’t want to be.”

“Never said that,” Dean grumbled.

“Good, because we’re going to need you.” Rowena eyed their still clasped hands, “and your Angel. Congratulations by the way. Didna think you were ever gonna get there, myself.” Rowena pulled a crisp $20 bill out of somewhere and handed it to Sam. Dean sent Sam a betrayed look while Sam just shrugged, smirked and pocketed the $20.

“I knew you guys couldn’t keep up the sexual tension and bullshit for another ten years, so it was an easy bet.”

“You bet on our relationship, Sam?” Castiel asked curiously.

“Sorry Cas.”

“Sorry Cas?” Dean exclaimed, “why does he get an apology and I don’t?”

“Cause I like him better than you, Dean,” Sam said with a grin. Dean shook his head but he sent a small smile to Rowena. She nodded back at him. The levity was well worth the shot to his pride.

“So, we summon Michael. How are you planning on us killing him, Rowena?” Cas asked.

“Not us dearie, _you,”_ she responded.

“Me? I can’t kill Michael,” Cas said shocked. “Even if I had an Archangel blade, it wouldn’t work for me — only for Lucifer, Gabriel or Raphael… who are all dead. The only beings left capable of killing him are God, Death, and the Darkness.”

“You forgot Michael,” Jack said.

“What?”

“Our Michael, the one locked in the cage. He could kill this version of himself, right?” Jack reasoned, hopeful.

“Damn, the kid’s not wrong, ” Dean said, “but does anyone really want to add a second Michael to this problem? Especially one driven insane by the cage?”

“No. We really don’t,” Sam said, looking ill.

“Worry not. A little bird told me a wee secret. One that says a certain Seraph was given a gift from God. A gift to stop the Archangels if they got out of control.”

Dean scoffed loudly. “If that were the case then the last ten years would have gone down very differently.”

“It’s a new development, as it were,” Rowena replied mysteriously.

“What, Chuck felt so guilty about taking off that he gave Cas some sort of failsafe?” Dean asked wryly.

“Yes,” Rowena said simply.

“Huh,” Sam said, turning to Castiel. “Do you know how to activate it?”

“I don’t even know what _it_ is, Sam,” Cas responded crossly. “I don’t suppose your ‘little bird’ gave instructions for that part?”

Cas had done the dorky finger quotations around the words “little bird” and Dean’s heart swelled. Damn, he loved this man —this Angel. Dean squeezed Cas’s hand and sent him his best smile. Cas’s face melted into the gummy smile he reserved just for Dean, and it was all Dean could do to not wrap his arms around the Angel beside him and kiss him senseless.

“Are they going to kiss now?” Jack asked, curious.

“If they are, they should hurry it up so we can get back to the problem at hand” Bobby rumbled.

Dean flushed all the way up to his ears but pulled Cas in for a soft press of their lips. It wasn’t what he wanted, but it was all he was willing to share with so many eyes on them. Then again, it was much more than he could have shared had a particular set of eyes been present.

“Did this little bird have a name, Rowena?” Sam asked, ploughing ahead as if the interruption had not taken place. “Like, Gabriel for example?”

“Ugh. And just when I thought I had completely bleached that picture out of my brain.” Dean complained.

Sam gave Dean a look. _You’re not wrong, but I’m smart enough not to say anything in front of Rowena._

Dean shrugged. _Maybe so, but she knows we were both thinking it._

“Don’t be such a prude. We were consenting adults.” Rowena snapped at Dean.

Dean rolled his eyes and made a ‘continue’ motion with his hand.

“Yes, Gabriel mentioned it to me, quite purposefully I imagine…despite the situation.”

“Great, now Archangels are giving out tips during pillow talk.” Dean griped.

“Well if anyone were to know about Angels and pillow talk, it would be you, Dean,” Charlie snarked back at him which made Dean do a double take before grinning and shaking his head. She might not be his Charlie, but she was still Charlie.

“Guys, can we not talk about Dean and Castiel’s sex life please?” Claire complained. “It’s just …weird.”

“Why?” Jack asked her curiously. “Is it because you see them as your parents?”

Claire immediately flushed bright red and shook her head, mumbling “no”.

Patience nodded and rolled her eyes. Dean and Cas shared a look and Dean grinned. Sure he’d played parent to Ben before, but somehow with Claire, it was different. It warmed him all over to know she felt that way about him - and that it now extended to Cas as well, especially since their relationship hadn’t had the best start.

“Claire has a lot of adults who care for her well being,” Jody said as she strode into the room, Donna right beside her.

“That she does.” Donna said with a grin. “Is this a private party or can anyone join?”

Dean grinned. “Not just anyone, but you two have already been vetted and approved. 

Alex came up behind them. “Am I included in that decision or what? Cool Bunker guys!”

“Jody! Donna! Welcome to the Bunker. And Alex too, of course, please join us!” Sam said, “we will get you guys rooms after the meeting.”

“So, back to how Cas is going to kill Michael?” Dean said after everyone had found a place to sit.

“Does it have anything to do with Kaia’s spear?” Sam asked Rowena.

Dean closed his eyes for a moment, cursing his brother, before turning to look at Claire who went from attentive to shock, despair and anger in a flash of a moment.

“What. Do. You. Mean. Kaia’s. Spear. Sam?” she grit out.

Sam turned to look at Claire and all the blood drained from his face.

“He means other-world Kaia. Her doppelganger. A person from another universe. Not our—yours. She came through a rift— somehow.” Dean said, trying to placate the distraught young woman.

“And when were you planning on telling me about this person?” Claire seethed, her eyes fierce with tears.

“That’s on me,” Jody said quietly. Claire whipped around to look at Jody so fast it was a wonder she didn’t give herself whiplash. “You knew?!”

Jody nodded. “We ran into her last week. I was going to tell you…”

Claire had stood up by then, and moved from her chair near the bookshelves to stand across from Dean and Jody at the table, her whole body shaking with anger and grief. Patience had gotten up with her, and stood just off to the side.

“Claire,” Dean said, “this other Kaia, she’s not the girl you knew. She’s the one who attacked us in the other world.” Claire turned to look at Dean, angry, but attentive. Dean knew she would soak up any and all information they had on the subject. He would have done the same. “She… she told me that she didn’t mean to kill her other self and that she was aiming for you.”

“What..?” Claire whispered as the tears finally fell from her eyes. She wiped them away angrily.

“I’m so sorry, Claire,” he said, wanting to reach out to her, but knowing that his touch wouldn’t be welcomed right now. Cas sat silently beside him.

“And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” Jody said. “I didn’t want to cause you any more pain.”

Patience grabbed Claire’s hand suddenly, her eyes glazing over as she focused on something they couldn’t see. A moment later, she blinked and shook her head, trying to dismiss the vision.

“Patience?” Sam asked as Claire tried to comfort the shaking girl beside her.

Patience took a deep breath before looking over at Sam.

“I saw... this room in candlelight… a flash of bright light and large wings. I saw… Castiel with a long, nasty-looking spear.” Patience looked over at Cas and Dean apologetically. “Going through his chest.”

“No!” Dean all but shouted, standing up so violently, his chair fell backwards. “God damn it!”

Castiel tried to reach out to calm him, but Dean wouldn’t have it.

“I will _not_ watch Cas die again!” he growled, every word dripping with despair.

“You won’t have to,” Castiel said calmly. “We’ve changed the outcome of Patience’s visions before, we will do so again.”

“Kaia isn’t even here.” Sam tried to reason, Dean resenting his attempts at compassion with every breath.

“If Patience saw her spear here, then she’ll be here!” Dean argued.

Everyone stood in silence for a moment.

“Welp, she’d better get here soon if she wants to beat the horde,” Bobby said gruffly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> XD Wanted to get this out before I went to work so you'd have to sit on this chapter ending for at least a couple of hours. Enjoy~


	14. John

“I expect you know somethin’ about making and setting up traps, Bobby?” John Winchester said as he walked into the War Room. Heads swivelled in his direction momentarily before going back to whatever tasks they’d been given. Castiel and Sam were standing side by side pouring over a large book, while Bobby looked up from the map he was reviewing with Mary. Mary’s face had slid into a frown as he’d entered the room. The problem with Mary would have to wait. At least until he’d secured his family’s safety.

“Might do,” Bobby replied.

“Dean and I are setting some up outside, could use a hand,” John told him neutrally.

“Alright. I’ll be there in a minute,” Bobby responded. When John didn’t move, he sighed, said something quietly to Mary before moving to follow John.

“I hear your world had an Angel problem,” John said as soon as they were within the dubious privacy of the hallway.

“You might call it that,” Bobby responded without slowing down or looking at John.

“So you know what they’re capable of?” John prodded.

“Sure do.”

John grit his teeth in frustration. Why was everyone so reticent and unwilling to share what they knew?

“And?” he prompted.

“They’re immortal, telepathic, telekinetic, have super strength and stamina, and heightened senses. They can travel across the world in the blink of an eye, warp reality, heal and resurrect people, and dream walk. I hear they also travel through time if they’re powerful enough. And the Archangels? They’re powerful enough to do just about anything they want, the manipulative bastards, ” Bobby groused.

John opened the door to the garage and gestured for Bobby to go through it and up the stairs ahead of him. They walked past the cars silently. The garage door at the end of the tunnel was open to the outside, sunlight and the quiet hum of people talking floated down toward them. They walked along the tunnel, but just before they reached the open door, John stopped.

“But there was a war, you fought and killed them, right?”

Bobby stopped and turned back to look at John curiously. John didn’t know what Bobby was searching for, but whatever it was, he wasn’t happy about it.

“It wasn’t a war. It was the extermination of the human race.” Bobby said before continuing on outside leaving John reeling in the tunnel.


	15. Dean

Claire joined them outside, “watching their backs” she called it, as Dean, Jack and Rowena set up traps. Dean knew from experience it had more to do with avoiding thinking about painful things by giving your hands something to do, than any real desire to protect them from the midday sun. Right on cue, Claire began to flip her knife in the air and catch it. Dean sighed but said nothing. There was nothing he could do to make it better for her. The meeting had adjourned quickly after Patience’s vision of Cas’s death and the assumed imminent arrival of Dark Kaia. Cas had gently but firmly pushed Dean outside to go set up traps, while he and Sam had started on gathering the ingredients to summon Michael. He had also promised to try and work out what Chuck could have given him to defeat the Archangel. It wasn’t much but it was something.

Rowena had been fully on board with that plan and had marched Dean straight outside to bewitch the traps because “I don’t have all day dearie, let's get this done so I can go be more useful elsewhere.”

Unable to argue with both the witch and his lover, Dean had begrudgingly picked up all of the items he had so gleefully deposited all over the books on the War Room table back before his world had been crushed again. Jack had followed after him dutifully picking up his own pile on the way. And so here he was, outside, getting everything ready the best that he could instead of climbing the walls inside worrying about Cas.

Dean finished digging another large hole in the road and wiped his brow before grabbing a landmine and delicately placing it inside. The storage room really did have everything. Rowena, grimoire in hand, was bewitching them to only go off for supernatural creatures. He’d warn Cas about them as soon as they went back inside. _Not that the warning was necessary if Cas was going to die by spear._ Dean grit his teeth and slammed the shovel into the ground harder than necessary. It was rough work but Dean welcomed the simplicity of the task and the way his arms burned as he dug. As hard as digging up graves was, he always had enjoyed the physicality of it for this reason. After each explosive was placed, Rowena spelled it before Dean covered it back up and moved onto the next spot.

Soon they were joined by a number of the new Hunters, all itching for something to do while they waited for the kill. Charlie, Jody and Donna had also ventured outside, having decided to set up an outdoor surveillance system. It made sense to have eyes and ears outside while they were all holed up downstairs, possibly for quite some time. So while Dean was down in the dirt, Charlie, Jody and Donna were climbing trees, working on the roof, and balancing precariously on top of the Bunker and garage doors. It was brilliant. Dean wondered why they hadn’t thought of it sooner.

A shot rang out, cutting all movement and conversation.

Dean was immediately up, gun in hand looking for the source of the shot. Rowena stood beside him, hand up, a bullet inches from her palm. Dean’s eyes followed the path of the gun to find his father standing at the edge of the garage, gun in hand, shaking.

“D’ya think you can kill me with that wee toy, John Winchester?” Rowena asked politely.

“Yes!” John shouted but his hand shook and didn’t fire again. There was no other sound or movement as Hunters from all over the property watched and waited to see how this was going to play out.

Dean raised his hands slowly. “Dad. Put the gun down. Rowena is our ally. We talked about this. Our allies are important.”

“The only good witch is a dead witch!” John snarled.

Rowena plucked the bullet out of the air and peered at it.

“Didne think to put witch-killing bullets in the wee pea-shooter today?” Rowena purred.

“Shut your mouth, witch.”

“No,” Rowena said, her eyes narrowing and glowing purple. She flicked her wrist and magically ripped the gun from John’s hand causing him to shout in surprise and rage. It shot across the yard and into her hand. She sniffed as if disgusted before passing it over to Dean. “Such barbaric and cumbersome instruments.”

Dean took the gun and put the safety on before looking back at his father.

“Dad, this is Rowena McLeod, her powers are natural and not-demon made. We may not always see eye to eye, but she has been a valuable ally and sometimes friend to us.”

“Flattery will get you everywhere dear,” Rowena cooed.

“Pass, Rowena,” Dean said rolling his eyes.

John looked ill.

“I suppose I would have to get past your handsome A—” Dean wasn’t sure if worry or relief won out when Rowena’s comment was cut off by a scream.

Dean held John’s gun up instinctively, his eyes quickly finding a Hunter now struggling with her much larger opponent a few steps into the forest. Ballsy of the monster really, with so many eyes and ears around. But it was a ghoul, and they weren’t notable for their high intellect. A number of other Hunters were much closer to Maggie and managed to pry her away before she turned and decapitated it herself using the knife she’d been using to set up wire traps. She wiped her knife on her pants and looked up guiltily. “Uh, sorry for the interruption?”

Dean waved her off. “Don’t worry about it - everyone, let’s— Hey! Watch out!” Dean called to the Hunters near the forest, raising his gun and shooting a second ghoul in the head as it reached for one of the new recruits. It’s head wrenched backwards, and then it fell dead to the forest floor. There was a beat of silence as everyone took in this new information. _Ghouls could still be killed with bullets._ And then the moment was gone as more and more ghouls came out of the forest to attack the Hunters.

“We’re under attack!!” Dean shouted as everyone flung into action, using whatever tools they were holding to fight off the new arrivals.

“I thought they weren’t due until tomorrow!” Jody shouted from the tree-line.

“They’re not!” Charlie called back from atop the Bunker door, multiple devices in-hand.

“This isn’t the horde, just an early group of vultures!”

Dean grit his teeth and ran for the garage, his machete leaning against the inner wall. He grabbed it without stopping and made it just in time to cut the head off another ghoul before it dug into one of the new Hunters. Claire was already in the thick of it, a whirlwind of speed and grace compared with Dean’s brute force and ferocity. It was a hell of a lot more satisfying than digging holes.

Now that all of the Hunters were aware of the threat, the small group of ghouls was quickly and efficiently slaughtered. Dean looked around after he felled one, only to find there were no new opponents. Most of the Hunters were peering into the trees searching for stragglers, but a couple were heading inside, putting pressure on various, mostly minor, wounds.

“Head down to the sanctorum, we’ve moved all of the medicine kits there!” he called out to Jack who was helping one of the wounded. Jack waved a hand in recognition and continued on his way. The kid had done well in the fight, even if he was still wobbly and unsure without his powers. 

“You good?” Dean said to Claire as she came to stand beside him, breathing hard.

“Five by five.” She said cleaning her knife off on her pants.

Dean nodded before shouting instructions to the remaining Hunters. “We need to hurry with the rest of these traps before the actual horde arrives! Last point of entry will be the tunnel to the garage!”

Everyone quickly got back to work, the level of chatter significantly decreased from where it had been before. Dean walked right past his father back to the road where he had been setting up land mines. They didn’t have time for one of John’s blowouts right now, they had a Bunker to prepare. Dean could feel his father’s eyes on the back of his head as he walked passed him, but John didn’t speak or stop him so he just kept moving. Eventually, he could hear John join the other Hunters in the trees, setting up more traps with Bobby.

Dean sighed in relief. If there was one thing that John could be trusted to do, it was to be a half-way decent Hunter. And maybe, Dean Realized, that’s all John had ever been: half-way decent. It was strange to finally recognize how much more competent and effective he and Sam were now, than John had ever been in his prime.

“Rowena, can you spell the front door hot? Like really hot. Hell hot. So that anything that touches it basically loses the use of their hand?” Dean asked as he started to dig a new hole.

“Of course. But are you sure you want that? What if one of your own need to get in?”

“We’ll tell everyone not to use it.”

Rowena raised her artfully manicured eyebrows at him.

“What?! It’s a sound strategy!” Dean defended himself. “Some of the monsters that are coming are fully capable of thinking, strategizing and opening doors. The least we can do is make it harder for them to get in using the most direct route. Plus, It’s not like the hidden salt lines and demon traps are going to stop a bunch of vampires, werewolves and shapeshifters anyways.”

“I didn’t say anything,” Rowena sniffed.

“You didn’t have to.” Dean griped back.

“I’ll do it and then head inside to help Samuel and your handsome Angel with summoning preparations.” Dean’s insides went cold and he whipped his head around looking for his father, but John was still off in the forest, out of hearing range, working with Bobby.

Rowena narrowed her eyes in judgement.

“Wee bit twitchy there, aren’t we dearie?”

“Shut up, Rowena.” Dean covered the hole with dirt before standing up, his back popping a couple of times with the effort. _I’m getting too old for this._

The witch shrugged and smiled before turning away.

Dean moved on to a new task.

“Hey Charlie, need a hand?” Dean asked as he walked up to the Bunker door. Charlie was working intently on securing what he thought might be a camera, or maybe a speaker.

“I got it Winchester, but thanks.”

“You got it,” _Your Majesty_. Dean knew that it wasn’t his Charlie, but seeing her here, helping out, making a difference, being a complete badass, just warmed his heart in a way he couldn’t deny. She strained trying to reach up to loop a wire over the guttering. “I could probably reach that for you if you want? Or I could get you a ladder?”

“Was that a “you’re short" joke?” she asked.

“It might have been,” he grinned.

“Terrible,” she said rolling her eyes, but her mouth turned up slightly on the sides.

“Or you know, I can be helpful, even if I’m not great with technology.”

Charlie peered down at him from atop the door. She looked at him curiously for a moment before smiling at him. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

He waited patiently for her to finish and then held his hands up to help her down. Charlie eyed him for a moment before nodding and accepting his help. Dean grinned at her, and she rolled her eyes.

“I’ll head inside and get all of this setup,” she said making for the garage.

“I’ll be right behind you!” Dean replied, watching as Rowena moved in to spell the door hot. Instead of following Charlie towards the garage, however, he turned and started to make another circuit around the property, checking in on everything and everyone.

They only had one shot at this.

 

~

 

After his last round of checking up on everyone still outside, Dean walked back into the Bunker through the tunnel leading to the garage. It was a fairly narrow entrance, certainly not enough for two cars to drive in at the same time, but still open enough to let too many bodies in at one time to be an effective funnel. _Unless we filled it with cars, then there would be significantly less room!_

Satisfied with his solution, Dean continued on into the garage where he found some of the young Hunters blocking up one of the garage door entrances to the Bunker with whatever they could find.

“Take whatever you need to make that entrance as inconvenient as possible,” Dean called out to them. “In fact,” he said walking closer and eyeing their haphazard setup, “what if we were to brick up or barricade the other side of the door instead? So even if they get through all this junk, the door won’t have enough room to swing open?”

“You have something we can use?” one of the Hunters asked.

“I just might.”

 

~

 

Many hours and various sore muscles later, Dean and the three Hunters surveyed their work with satisfaction. The hallway to the dungeon was completely blocked from floor to ceiling with furniture. It was either that or block the hallway to the armoury and that just wasn’t going to work. The Bunker sofa sat lengthwise at the base, barely fitting into the tight hallway. On top of it sat the Bunker’s supply of chairs, storage units and anything else they could scavenge that wasn’t nailed down. Sam had raised an eyebrow when they had raided the War Room for many of the items but hadn’t stopped them.

“Good luck getting through all of that!” Dean crowed happily.


	16. John

“How do you stand it?” John said, placing another bear trap carefully in the underbrush.

“Stand what?” Bobby grunted and he strung another line of wire above him.

“The creatures!” John hissed “The witch and that... Angel guy. Just being here.”

Bobby shrugged. “Rowena is slippery for sure, but damn useful. And Castiel is family to your boys, and that’s enough for me.”

John scowled. “I would’ve thought you of all people wouldn’t trust the Angel.”

Bobby didn’t reply.

“It’s not right.” John continued “These monsters just walking around freely. It’s like my boys just threw out everything I ever taught them after I died. They’ve become soft and weak and it’s fucking insulting.”

Bobby finished wrapping the wire around the tree, secured it and then carefully cut off the ends with wire cutters. He stepped back to assess his work and nodded to himself before meticulously coiling the leftover wire around his arm. When he was done he looked over at John.

“Well I might not have known these boys fer as long as my counterpart, but I can tell you this: I’ve watched these boys fight. They move as if they were born to it, and I’m guessing that has a lot to do with you. I have seen them face a great many evils without hesitation or fear, sometimes without regard fer their own safety, I’ve seen them save others, and lead, not only by example but also through compassion and care. I’ve seen ‘em laugh and cry and grieve and been full of pride and love for each other and those around them.” Bobby paused, considering. “I’ve seen them do a lot of things, but never have I seen them as frightened as when you walked into the room the other day. Makes me think that they are the great men they are despite you, instead of because of you John.”

John stared at Bobby, struck dumb by the man’s words. Bobby didn’t flinch or look away from his gaze. Of all the things Bobby could have said to him, that wasn’t it. This Bobby wasn’t his Bobby, but Dean had said that his Bobby had been just as accepting of Castiel as this one was, hadn’t he? Something about a team? Then again, Bobby had always been too soft on his boys. Maybe that was a trait this one shared? Had the world gone completely mad? Did he have no support here at all? Even Mary was angry with him over this. How had the world become so corrupted in his absence?

 

_**//He has been compromised.//** _

 

John was so wrapped up in his train of thought that he missed the beginning of what Bobby said next.

“… before you came, Dean was content. Or well as he could be given his life. And fer what it’s worth, happy and in love. Now he sneaks around jumping at every sound and acting downright silly trying to keep you happy. It’s a damn shame, is what it is. The fact that you can’t see what they’ve done here…” Bobby shook his head.

“My son’s in love?”

Bobby gave him a blank look before sighing. “You’re a damn fool, John Winchester,” he said before he turned and walked away. 

John watched his friend– No, ally? Apparently not, walk back down the hill and his eyes were drawn to the form of his son. He was looking up at a red-headed girl perched on top of the Bunker door. He was grinning at her like she had hung the moon and stars. Was this the girl Bobby was talking about? He hadn’t seen any other women around his sons, either of them really. Except for the cops? But they seemed a little old…weren’t they? He didn’t think he’d seen this girl before, however. Maybe she was the one Bobby was speaking of. Perhaps if she loved his son in return, she could be reasoned with about the dangers these other people brought into his life.


	17. Dean

“Ghouls can be killed the old fashioned way,” Dean announced as he walked into the War Room where everyone had started to congregate.

“Which means our previous assessment that none of these monsters could be killed at a distance is incorrect,” Sam mused.

“That’s what I said Sammy,” Dean snarked.

Sam rolled his eyes. “Ok so let’s have someone up on the roof with a rifle. Even if we can only get rid of ten percent of the horde from a distance, it will be worth our time.”

“Jodes and me got it!” Donna volunteered cheerfully. “Even brought my rifle.”

Dean grinned. “Thanks, Donna.”

“You betcha.”

“Great. So Donna and Jody will be on the roof, Charlie will be monitoring the cameras.”

“Thanks for setting that up Charlie,” Dean said, beaming at the redhead.

“No problem” she responded, barely looking up from the monitors she had set up on the table.

“Alex will be in the Sanctorum, helping the wounded,” Sam continued. “Thank you for your support in this Alex.”

“No problem,” Alex said.

“I’d like to help her… if that’s ok?” Jack asked.

“Of course it is, Jack,” Sam said with a smile. Dean did not miss the flash of relief that went across his brother’s features. Jack really did have three dads.

“Also, we need more cars,” Dean said to Sam. “We should get all the remaining Hunters on the way back to bring extra cars to fill the garage and the tunnel to further bottleneck the horde if they get in. In fact, if we have time I’d say we should send out people to grab more cars to fill the space with.”

Sam nodded. “We can do that.”

“Mom, Bobby, could you lead a team to fortify and defend the garage? If the outside garage door is broken down you’ll be able to cut them down as they move through the packed tunnel and the mess of cars in the garage. Make sure you have a runner to get more of us.”

“Can do,” Bobby said nodding.

“Whatever you need, Sam,” Mary added.

“If you are overwhelmed, barricade yourself behind one of the Bunker doors. They are solid metal and will hold” Sam continued.

Mary nodded and smiled at Sam before sharing a warm look with Bobby.

“You only need to worry about one of the inside Bunker doors,” Dean said smugly “we made the other one impossible to open. On a related note, the hallway to the dungeon is now closed.”

Sam raised an eyebrow at Dean who shrugged. “Access to the armoury hallway seemed more important.”

“Rowena, Cas and I are going to summon Michael,” Sam continued.

“Me too,” Dean said in a tone he hoped meant no one would challenge him on that particular decision. Cas looked like he was about to say something but a loud metal banging interrupted the conversation.

Everyone automatically reached for their weapons and Dean glanced at Rowena. “You did spell the front door, right?”

“Of course I did.” She said with a heavily put-upon sigh.

Dean exchanged a glance with Sam and they stood up as one, moving toward the staircase. The loud metal banging came again.

“Charlie, what’s on the feed?” Sam asked.

_System hasn’t even been up a full day and it is already useful!_

“Hold up,” Charlie said as she clicked around bringing up the right camera.”It’s a girl. In black. Holding a rather nasty looking spear.”

“Fuck,” Dean swore, “I told you she would be here.”

“She’s probably just here to kill Michael” Sam started “We can -

“I don’t care what she’s here for, Sam!” Dean hissed “I don’t want her fucking spear anywhere near Cas, alright?!”

“Dean, we will change that future, I promise. But for now, we need all the help we can get,” Castiel said. “Especially when that help comes in the form of an _Archangel-killing spear.”_

Dean glared Cas down but knew that he had already lost. Had anyone else tried, he’d probably have taken their head off, but as it was, he couldn’t deny Cas anything. He glanced around the room to check for any last-minute support but found none. What he did find was Claire’s distraught face.

Dean, Sam and Jody exchanged another look.

“Claire…” Dean started.

“I’m staying,” Claire interrupted. “It’s Kaia right?”

Dean nodded at her. “Are you sure? Because now’s a good time to find somewhere else to be if you’re not. In fact, Cas you could leave the room too.”

“I decline,” Cas said flatly.

Claire, at least, considered him seriously before nodding again. “If we’re gonna fight I’m gonna be here. And if we’re not, it’s a small Bunker.”

“Not that small,” Sam muttered for only Dean’s ears.

Dean avoided glancing at his brother before nodding his acceptance. “Ok then.”

Sam continued. “Dark Kaia is an incredible fighter, unrelenting and homicidal, but as far as we can figure, she is mortal, and dedicated to killing Michael. So don’t shoot her, but don’t put your weapons away either. She could be really helpful, or a disaster… so let's get this right people.” Sam paused a moment longer to ensure everyone at the table had heard and acknowledged his order.

Dean started up the stairs towards the door. “We safe to touch it from this side, Rowena?”

“Yes. Go ahead,” she drawled, clearly unimpressed.

Cas stood at the bottom of the stairs, blade in hand and watching the brothers carefully.

“Err… Charlie, is there anyone else with her?” Dean asked peering down at the table.

“I would have said if there was,” Charlie responded curtly.

“Just checking.”

“Kaia!” Dean shouted through the door when he got there. “I’m armed and opening the door.”

A loud bang came in acknowledgement.

Sam and Dean locked eyes and mentally counted to three. They opened the door and immediately had their guns up in Kaia’s face.

Kaia stood tall right outside the Bunker door, spear in hand. She didn’t so much as flinch at the raised weapons.

“I’m here for Michael,” she said.

“He’s not here,” Dean growled.

“Not yet. But he will be. We all know what is coming to your door.”

“So?” Dean snorted. “Just ‘cause the horde’s coming doesn’t mean he’s dropping by as well. For all you know he’s off sipping MaiTais on a beach somewhere.”

Kaia completely ignored Dean and looked at Sam. “I assume you have a plan to summon him.”

“And if we do? What makes you think we need you?” Sam asked, unflinching.

“I hold the only weapon that can hurt him,” Kaia said, pounding the spear on the ground beside her. “You have proof of its capability,” she nodded towards Dean’s arm.

“The only weapon _you_ know of you mean,” Sam said smugly.

Kaia’s eyes went wide as her eyebrows raised. “Truly?”

Dean chewed on this question for a moment. All they really had was Rowena’s assurance that Gabriel was telling the truth about Chuck instilling some sort of power within Cas - one that Cas knew nothing about. It wasn’t the farthest leap they’d ever made, but it certainly wasn’t as concrete as the very real spear Kaia held beside her. He couldn’t feel the marks it left on his arm the way he had felt Cas’s handprint, but he didn’t need to touch them to know that they were there.

“Yup. But we aren’t so prideful as to not accept a Michael-piercing spear when it lands on our doorstep,” Dean said. _Maybe all I need to do is keep Kaia away to save Cas._

“I’m not giving you my spear,” Kaia replied, her eyes narrowing.

Dean shrugged. “Worth a shot.”

“There are conditions to us letting you in,” Sam said.

“I would assume so,” Kaia agreed.

“You are not to harm anyone sheltering in this Bunker for the duration of your time here, for any reason,” Sam stated.

“Unless he possesses them,” Kaia cut in.

“No one in this Bunker is going to say Yes to Michael,” Dean argued.

“Why not? You did,” She snapped back.

“It won’t happen again.” A voice growled. Dean didn’t have to turn and look to know that Cas had come up the stairs and was standing beside him, staring down the girl outside, blade in hand. Dean’s skin crawled with the thought of them standing so close together after Patience’s vision. Granted there weren’t any candles lit at the moment, but you could never be too careful.

Kaia looked at Cas for a moment, before frowning. “Angel.”

“Castiel.”

“Castiel _Winchester,”_ Dean growled “And that’s all you need to know about him.”

Kaia’s eyes shifted from Cas back to Dean, studying him for a moment before shifting over to Sam.

“That’s right,” Sam confirmed. “That’s our condition. Take it or leave.”

“I will defend myself if attacked,” Kaia countered.

“Fair,” Dean said and slowly lowered his weapon. Sam and Cas lowered theirs as well, stepping back to let her inside.

“Welcome to the Men of Letters Bunker,” Sam said dryly, as she stepped over the threshold.

Kaia walked down the stairs, spear in hand, taking in all of the people aiming weaponry at her head. She paused as she got a look at Claire and bared her teeth. “You,” she snarled.

Claire, for her part, stood perfectly still, but her face was awash with emotion. Dean could only imagine what it would be like to see the person who killed the one you love wearing that loved one’s face. I suppose it was not unlike Lucifer wearing Sam’s face, or more accurately, Cas’s. Dean hurt for her.

Kaia continued walking down the stairs and came to a stop at the top of the table.

“Everyone, this is Kaia, she’s from an alternate universe - the bad place - where giant monsters rule the world, as far as we can figure. Her spear can hurt Michael. While she is in the Bunker she is our ally. Understood?” Sam addressed the group.

Murmurs of assent flowed from the crowd, and people lowered their weapons. Some wore knowing looks while others were sending curious glances Sam’s way. Dean was sure Kaia hadn’t missed the word choice either. The moment this was over, they would be enemies once again.

Kaia stared at the group for a moment before stating, “don’t get in my way.” She then turned to Sam. “You should summon him now.”

“We’re working on it, dearie. Be patient,” Rowena cut in. “We’ll summon him when we’re right’n proper.”

“Fine,” Kaia said, moving over to lean against a pillar.

Claire muttered an excuse and left the room, her long hair only half able to hide the silent tears running down her face. Jody followed quickly after her.

“Alright,” Sam continued, “if anyone is injured, fall back to the Sanctum. The horde could start arriving any time now, but they might still be hours off, so it’s going to be a long night. We will do our best to finish our preparations and summon Michael as quickly as possible. Everyone stay sharp and hydrated. Patience could you stay here please?”

Patience nodded and Sam finished up by saying “good luck, everyone.” Everyone started moving at once, filing out of the room to either take up positions, help with fortifications, or grab some much-needed food or rest before the battle started.

Everyone except one John Winchester.

 

~

 

“Did you mean what you said earlier?” Cas asked as he came to stand next to Dean.

“Hmm?” Dean watched as Sam and Rowena were arguing about ingredients and object placement, Patience beside them soaking it all in with a wide-eyed look. They had lit the candles already, and it was making Dean twitchy.

Dean finally turned to Cas noticing the warm blue eyes watching him intently.

“About what?”

“Castiel Winchester.”

“Yeah, Cas. Of course I meant it. I mean, I know I’ve been saying that you’re family for years…but might as well make it official” Dean said.

“So you didn’t just say it because you think I’m going to die?” Castiel asked.

“No! Fuck, Cas. I said it because it’s true!” Dean exclaimed.

“Then I will wear the name proudly. Thank you Dean,” Cas said sincerely. “It made me very happy to hear it.” He smiled and turned to watch Sam and Rowena again who were putting the finishing touches on a very elaborate magic circle.

Dean smiled at the man — the Angel — beside him. Castiel, Angel of the Lord, his best friend, his family, and the love of his life. It might have taken them a long time to get here, but now that they were here, Dean was all in. And he would be damned if they didn’t get a chance to enjoy it.

The gears in Dean’s head ground to a halt as he thought through the deeper implications of giving Cas his name. _Oh._ Dean reached out to take Cas’s hand and turned Cas to face him once again.

“It’s not just that.”

Cas looked at him curiously, squeezing his hand reassuringly.

“It’s not exactly how I pictured this conversation going, but you must know that you’re it for me right?”

Cas’s stare felt like it pierced down to his very soul, and for all that Dean knew, it probably did.

Cas nodded. “I had hoped.”

Well, that was good. After so many years of miscommunication and missed opportunities, he needed to make sure they were on the same page. Dean felt his shoulders sag with relief. It made what he was about to say that much easier.

“I love you. So my name is your name, and everything that implies. If you uh... Want it? And uh ...me?” Dean blushed to the roots of his hair. _Please say Yes._

Cas smiled brilliantly back at him. “Are you asking me to marry you, Dean Winchester?”

In all the time he had spent with Lisa and with Cassie, he had never really thought about marriage, even if he had thought about kids and the apple pie life, but now, here with Cas beside him, he knew that a piece of paper would never be enough.

‘Yes. No. Err...Well I’m dead and you legally don’t exist, so maybe not in the eyes of the law…” Dean said sheepishly before lifting his hand to cup Cas’s face. “But I’m yours, and you’re mine and nothing and no one is going to stop that from being true.” _Not Kaia, not Michael, not even my father._

Cas’s smile melted into a soft happy thing. “Then yes. Of course, I want you and your name. I want to stand beside you and love you the rest of your days.”

“And I you.” Dean wasn’t sure who moved first, but in the next moment, they were joyously wrapped up in each other as they kissed, heedless of anyone else in the room.

“I’ll even get you a ring.” Dean grinned as he pulled away just far enough to see Cas’s shining eyes, leaving his arms wrapped around the Angel.

“As long as you get one that matches,” Cas replied, his face radiant.

“Deal.”

“Sorry to interrupt…” Sam said coming over to them, clearly embarrassed, “but we’re ready to summon Michael now.”

“Sammy! Cas and I decided that we’re… ” Dean faltered. Married wasn’t quite the right word, but it wasn’t wrong either. Plus “profoundly bonded” sounded silly as shit, no matter that it was true.

Cas quickly jumped in and saved him. “Bonded. Life partners. Married for lack of a better term.”

“What? When? Just _now_?! Shit!” Sam face morphed from confusion, to shock, to joy in a matter of seconds before he shouted “Congratulations!” and they were suddenly enveloped in Sam’s strong arms as he brought them both in for a hug.

“Thanks, man,” Dean said and hugged his brother back tightly. Sam clung onto him a little longer than he usually did, and Dean was grateful for it. When they pulled away, Sam’s eyes were glassy.

“I’m so happy for you guys. You deserve to have something good and real and happy.”  
Dean felt the chick flick line bubbling to the surface and ruthlessly crushed it back down.

“Thanks, Sam. It ... That means a lot to me. To us. You deserve to have something good too.”

“Yeah well, first thing’s first.” Sam grinned. “Let’s do this so we can get back to celebrating! Also, Mom’s gonna kill you when she finds out she missed it!”

_Fuck._


	18. John

John watched as his youngest dealt out jobs for everyone but him. He was about to go over to Sam, but then Mary didn’t even so much as look up at him as she walked by with Bobby on her way to the garage. Had he somehow become invisible to his own family? If they were going to forget he existed then he wasn’t going to volunteer to help out.

John walked over to Charlie and the computers.

“You can see me right?”

Charlie looked up at him surprised. “Yes, of course.”

“Thought so.” John looked her up and down, she wasn’t Dean’s usual type, that’s for sure. “You hold a lot of sway with my boy.’

“Who, Dean? I guess.” Charlie said carefully, watching the monitors instead of the man beside her. “He certainly really loved the other version of me.”

“We’re they together?” John asked, not caring to beat around the bush.

“What?” Charlie’s head snapped up so quickly it took John by surprise. “No! No way! I’m G-..” Her voice died as she looked at him. And just as fast as he had caught her attention, her eyes were back on the monitors. “She was his best friend, a little sister to him apparently.”

John chewed on that for a moment, glancing at the screens Charlie was watching. She really had set up great views of the surrounding areas. Areas that were now slowly filling with monsters.

“Guys!” Charlie called to the room, “we’ve got company!” Sam, Dean, Castiel, Rowena and Patience all stopped momentarily to look at them.

“You’d better make it fast,” some Wannabe Hunter Girl said from her place against a pillar on the far side of the room. Sam briefly glanced at her before he nodded and went back to setting up whatever magics they were planning. The whole thing made John’s skin crawl.

“And you?” John persisted. Just because the other Charlie and Dean weren’t a thing didn’t mean that he and this Charlie weren’t either.

“Allies,” she affirmed.

“What of the Angel?”

“Cas? What about him?” On the monitors, a couple of monsters had started to go down.

The cops must have spent their time waiting on the roof.

“My boys say he’s family. That true?”

“Look, mister, I don’t know what you want to hear. I’m new to all of this. But you’d be blind if you couldn’t see that he is. If I were you I’d focus on the actual threat outside, not on the family Sam and Dean have created for themselves and how happy they are because of it.” Charlie looked at him again. “And leave me out of it, capiche?”  
John scowled. Another person telling him to let it go. The Angel really must have done a thorough job bewitching everyone to his side.

A sudden movement in the room caught his eye. He looked up in time to see Dean pull the Angel into his arms and kiss him passionately. John’s world dropped out from under him, and he saw red.

This didn’t make sense. His red-blooded, womanizing son was making out with another man - and a monster one at that! This fucking Angel had not only bewitched his family and turned them against him, but he was also defiling his son? Rage and disgust coursed through John’s system. There was only one way to fix this.

_**//You could kill him.//** _

Yes. Yes, he could. John looked around the room until his eyes landed on the Wannabe Hunter Girl and the long vicious spear that leaned against the wall beside her. What did they say about that spear?

_**//It can hurt Archangels.//** _

Yes. That’s right. And if it could hurt Archangels, it should be able to kill regular ones too, right? He looked back over to where Sam was congratulating Dean and the Angel, clearly at ease and happy with their perversion. No one else was going to help him with this task.

_**//I will help you.//** _

Wait. The whispered voice he’d been hearing since he’d woken up, the one he’d passed off as an overactive imagination, a post-heaven hangover or even just his own conscience being particularly active, was actually speaking to him? Answering his questions? Agreeing? Who the fuck was in his head?

_**//Someone who can help.//** _

Why the fuck do I need your help?

_**//Because you can not kill the traitor Castiel and free your family from his manipulations by yourself.//** _

Don’t underestimate me, Demon!

_**//I am no demon, John Winchester. I am the Archangel Michael. Say Yes and we will lay waste to your enemies and achieve a higher purpose.//** _

_The_ Michael? The one they were summoning right now? The one controlling the horde?

_**//Yes. I had no other way to fight back after the traitor Castiel bound my hands. He has taken me away from my righteous path and corrupted those that would have followed in my footsteps. He must be stopped.//** _

That makes sense.

_**//Castiel has been a corrupting influence in your sons’ lives for too long. He has altered the course of fate for his own ends. Under his tutelage, Sam drank demon blood, spent hundreds of years in Hell being tortured by my brother Lucifer, and has called many a monster friend, including the Witch. Dean has died more for Castiel’s whims than anyone else. He’s also spent time as a Vampire and as a Demon, and spent time enjoying the intimate company of such creatures. In fact, both of your sons have taken demons to bed. They have been corrupted beyond recognition and must be cleansed. Something that can not happen while Castiel yet lives. He will never release his hold on them now that he has taken Dean both emotionally and physically... //** _

John felt the rage grow and spread inside him, filling his lungs and heart and brain until he could barely breathe, or feel, or think about anything else. The room spun around him. When he had asked Dean for the details of his son’s lives, none of this information had been shared. Was this why everyone had been so cagey with him? Did everyone know and accept these horrors? His son? A demon? Cavorting with demons? The both of them? He ground his teeth together as his hands balled into fists. Did Mary know about all of this? Surely not…although. She had been willfully reticent towards him as well. Enough was enough. His family needed to be rid of this filthy creature, and John was the only one who could do it.

If I help you, do you promise to kill Castiel and keep my family safe?

_**//I swear on my Father, it shall be done.//** _

Then what do I have to do?

_**//Say Yes//** _

YES.


	19. Jody

Donna and Jody were lying flat on the roof, rifles in hand when Claire emerged from the Bunker’s trap door. The bright floodlights mounted to the roof did an excellent job hiding their position, but they did their best to be as quiet as possible as well. Anything to give them an advantage over the supernatural horde now forming below them. The roof was filled with piles of weaponry and ammunition they’d liberated from the armoury on their way up. After all, now that they had proof that some of the horde could be killed from a distance, they were going to take every available opportunity to do so, or at least cause significant damage.

Claire shuffled forward on her hands and knees and Jody held out a pair of binoculars.

“Call it out, Claire,” she whispered.

The young woman nodded, her face still splotchy and red from her earlier breakdown, but her eyes were clear and determined. Jody was so proud of the young woman, prepared and ready to fight despite her own inner turmoil. Jody knew she wouldn’t let them down.

 

~

 

Claire moved so swiftly through the Bunker to her room that Jody had a hard time keeping up. Every time she turned a hallway, Claire’s golden hair was pulled out of sight once again. It didn’t matter, Jody knew where Claire was headed. When she reached Claire’s door, number 31, (specifically chosen for its distance from the rest of the family no doubt), she was unsurprised to find it partially open in invitation. Jody knocked softly before letting herself into the room and closing the door behind her. Claire was sitting on her bed, knees pulled up to her chest, head in her arms as she cried. Jody wordlessly sat down beside her and pulled the girl into her arms. Claire immediately latched on and clung to Jody, a sob breaking through her muffled crying.

“The … the way she looked at me.”

“I know,” Jody said rubbing a hand down Claire’s back comfortingly.

“She… she wants to kill me!”

“We won’t let her.” No matter how useful she proclaimed herself to be in the fight against Michael, Jody would kill Kaia before she could ever lay a hand on Claire. She was fairly certain there would be a line up to help her with that task too.

“It’s not fair.” Claire sniffled “I miss her so bad”

“I know you do, Honey.”

“And she’s here, but not… And…”

“I know, Claire. I know,” Jody soothed, running a hand down her adopted daughter's back. The first heartbreak was often the worst, but this had been made all the more traumatic with the death that accompanied it, as was the brutal loss of potential.

 

~

 

A loud click brought Jody out of her reminiscing as Donna’s silencer did its job beside her. She looked through her scope in time to see a body hit the dirt. They had agreed to clear the road first so that when they finally reached the landmines, they would take as many of the horde with them as possible. It was also more practical since the floodlights only reached so far into the forest. It didn’t take long before the quiet of the night was broken with the sound of monsters screaming in pain as limbs were cut off and traps snapped shut on unsuspecting feet or claws. The zip of wires and the heavy sounds of heads falling without their bodies, were both terrifying and satisfying at the same time.

Jody felt a twinge of guilt as she shot what appeared to be a girl, no older than Claire, walking up the road. When the girl’s head rolled back up after snapping back with the force of the bullet, she felt less guilty.

“First vampire, female, roadside,” Jody whispered. “Enhanced.”

“Werewolf pack, east side,” Donna whispered back, her rifle clicking again. A pause. “Not enhanced.” A couple more clicks went off.

“Unknown monster, male,” Claire murmured and handed Jody the rifle with regular bullets in it. “Northside, moving fast.”

Jody scanned with her gun until she found the monster in question. It was definitely moving quickly - possibly too quickly to line up the shot. Jody followed it but just as she was about to pull the trigger, a large explosion shook the concrete walls and Jody’s scope was filled with smoke. All movement outside the Bunker ceased as everyone waited to see what had happened. The unknown monster had turned into a pile of debris on the ground, and red mist in the air.

“Looks like the landmines are working!” Donna chuckled quietly.

The quiet lasted only a moment longer before more of the horde started to arrive, the noise level of their progress impossible to ignore. The shrieking and hissing would have given them away had their dying screams still coming from the forest not identified them first.

Jody’s rifle clicked over and over as she tried to take out as many non-enhanced beings as she could. _Apparently, ghouls weren’t high on Michael’s “to save” list. Couldn’t really blame him, there._

Donna picked up Jody’s discarded rifle with the dead man’s blood bullets in it, while Claire took Donna’s silver bullet rifle and automatically started to refill it.

A few shots later and Donna swore. “Looks like Michael likes vampires. A lot.”

“Understood,” Jody responded, never looking away from her next target.

Claire handed the rifle with the silver bullets back to Donna and started filling a fourth gun she had brought up with her. “What do we do if they make it to the wall? You think they can reach us?”

“Good question. If something makes it all the way up here, we will kill it by hand.” Jody said, pulling the trigger again. Another explosion went off as another beast made a run for the door. “And if we’re overwhelmed we’ll go back inside.” Jody had remembered Rowena’s warning them about keeping the trap door open because once it was fully closed, they wouldn’t be getting it open again.

Jody pulled back to glance at the assembled monsters below. There was a solid line of bodies in front of the Bunker now, and hundreds, if not thousands of eyes were trained on the Bunker door, while a few dozen were staring straight up at them, floodlights be damned. Maybe they’d have to evacuate sooner than they thought.

“Claire, can you check the garage, please? See if it’s still closed?” Jody whispered. She never looked away from her gun, but she felt the young woman shift back slowly and crawl away from her. Less than five minutes later Claire was back.

“It’s still closed but the horde is filing in and moving around to find another entrance. It won’t be long until they get it open.”

“That’s what the Hunters in the garage are there for,” Donna chirped quietly, passing her empty rifle to Claire and grabbing the other one she had loaded.

“The vampires are throwing rocks now,” Donna muttered, the flash of her gun going off again.

“Good. They’re in for a nasty surprise when they realize that won’t work.” Jody replied, the building shaking again seconds later as a landmine was set off, right on time.

“Did anyone count how many of those things Dean setup?“ Donna asked.

“Twenty-five” Claire replied promptly.

Jody grinned. “That’s my girl” and passed Claire her gun for reloading, squeezing her hand gently. Claire nodded and gave Jody a small smile. It wasn’t much but Jody would take it.

“Jodes!” Donna barked beside her, Jody looked back only to see a werewolf had made it over the landmines and was closing in fast. Her rifle was pointed out too far to catch it.

“Claire. Take care of that one.”

The girl was beside her in an instant, gun in hand, aiming straight down. She pulled the trigger a couple of times, scowling. “It’s enhanced.”

Jody took out a monster in the tree line and wondered if she was going to need her knife sooner rather than later when Claire started laughing.

“Claire? Honey?” Donna asked, looking up from her rifle for the first time since they had settled on the roof.

“The building is repelling them.” Claire giggled. “They try and climb it and the building just kind of bounces them right off. Oh, that’s good.”

A loud explosion brought their attention back down to the ground where the werewolf had just been thrown back far enough to fall on a landmine.

“Brilliant.” Jody breathed, a grin forming on her face.

“Looks like we won’t be needin’ those knives, Jodes.”

“Looks like,” Jody replied at the same time Claire said, “not yet.”

“You’re not wrong. But let’s hope it doesn’t come to that alright?” Jody said, her gun going off again and again, no longer interested in hiding their position now that they knew it was unattainable.

“Trust in those Winchesters, yeah?” Donna agreed. “They’ll sort it out.”

“They always do,” Jody agreed.

“In the meantime, Claire, can you pass me that grenade?”


	20. Dean

Dean, Sam, Castiel and Rowena stood around the circle of holy fire, each in line with one of the inner four quadrants of the summoning sigil. Rowena had added an extra outer circle that she was chanting over, assuring them that if there was any chance of trapping Michael, this was it, and if it didn’t work, then there was nothing else that could be done. It hadn’t been the most comforting pep talk ever. A blast from an explosion outside shook the Bunker, and Dean and Sam exchanged glances from across the circle as Rowena continued chanting.

_I hope this works._

_It will. It has to._

And so they waited, and Rowena chanted. The candles flickered a couple more times with the fight going on above them shaking the foundations. Rowena carried on regardless, the shrieks of pain coming from outside never once stopping or interrupting the witch. When she finally stopped, Rowena nodded at Castiel who started the Enochian chant to summon Michael.

"Zod ee reh doh noh koh ah beh rah ma geh nah zod peh sah geh."

The candles started flickering again, as if a sudden breeze had formed inside the concrete walls of the Bunker instead of the vibrations from the very real battle happening just on the other side of the door and shaking the foundation enough to make the flames dance. The last time they had summoned an Archangel, the effect had been immediate, with Raphael showing up between one breath and the next. This time, however, Michael was nowhere to be seen; the circle remained bare and empty.

“Maybe he needed to get a new vessel first?” Sam whispered.

“You’d think he’d already have done that by now….” Dean said before mumbling, “when we summoned Raphael we had his meat suit available.”

“That is not an option,” Cas all but growled.

“Are you sure you said it right?” Rowena asked Castiel.

If Cas was human, Dean mused, he would have popped a blood vessel for how hard he was glaring at the witch.

“Yes, I’m sure I used the right words to summon my brother using a language I’ve been speaking for millennia,” Cas said dryly, and Dean couldn’t help but smirk.

“Just askin’ dearie,” Rowena said holding up her hands in defence.

“He definitely would have gotten a new vessel by now, even if it is a little… crispy,” Sam said wincing.

“But Archangels can ignore summons can they not?” Patience asked quietly.

“I suppose they—“

“HEY!” A shout came from across the room. John Winchester had snatched Kaia’s staff away from her and was moving quickly in their direction.

“Dad?” Sam asked momentarily confused before blinking in horror.

John stopped, aimed and threw.

Patience screamed.

Dean’s reflexes, heightened and honed from a lifetime of fighting things faster than him, were pushed to the limit as he moved to intercept the spear aimed at Castiel’s back. He had to get there in time. _He had to._ The circle Rowena had created wasn’t that large, but it wasn’t small either - Dean ignored it completely, moving straight through to reach Cas. Dean wouldn’t survive Cas dying again. Whatever he had to do to stop this it would be worth it. Whatever the cost.

Cas was mid-turn, looking to see what had upset Sam when Dean crashed into him, overbalancing both of them, and moving Cas out of the line of fire. Dean hoped it would be enough. The spear grazed Cas’s shoulder and sunk straight into Dean’s chest.

_He’s Safe._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry!!! 
> 
> Keep reading. There's no MCD in this fic, I promise.


	21. Mary

Mary and Bobby stood side by side, shoulders touching, guns aimed at the door keeping the horde out. The snarls and stomping feet could be heard through the metal, their sharp claws screeching against the outsides. It wouldn’t be long now before they got inside.

“Yer boys will get us out of this mess,” Bobby said out of the corner of his mouth

“Yes, they will” Mary affirmed. “We just have to survive until then.” As far as ways to go went, dying to protect her sons' lives wasn’t altogether terrible. Dying protecting the man beside her wasn’t bad either.

“Didn’ survive for a decade in th’ apocalypse jus to die here neither” Bobby grumped.

A loud thud banged outside and blood started seeping in under the door. Mary had to hand it to those sheriffs, they had great aim. The fact that they were able to keep the horde from breaking in this long with just the two of them was really something else. Mary made a mental note to give them a second chance if they all got through this in one piece.

“Wha’ happens after?”

“After what, Bobby?” Mary said glancing at the man beside her.

“You know, after. When we’ve lived through this shit,” Bobby mumbled, the door gaining another large dent. It was only a matter of time now.

“We go back to Hunting, I suppose,” Mary replied. “Not good at much else.”

“I was thinkin’ of takin’ some time off. Away.” Bobby took his eyes off the door for a moment to glance at Mary before refocusing. He coughed. Mary waited him out. The other Hunters stood at their sides quietly focused on the task at hand, and doing their best not to intrude on what was increasingly becoming a private moment. Finally, Bobby caved and continued.

“Was thinkin’ you’d… you’d maybe want to come with me?” he asked nervously.

Mary flashed him a smile as a larger dent was gouged into the door, the blood from the dead things, now reaching their shoes. No one moved away. “I’d like that.”

“What about John?”

“What about him, Bobby?” Mary sighed. “It was ‘until death do us part’. And we’ve both covered that end of the deal, a couple of times now.”

Bobby grunted a laugh as a clawed hand punched through the bulge in the door. A Hunter closer to the door leaned over and chopped the arm right off. The monster on the other side howled with pain, stepping back and leaving a gaping hole in the garage door. The hole allowed them to hear the growling and shrieking much more clearly, as well as the shots ringing out in staccato. The sheriffs must have been firing for at least a half hour at this point. Surely they were running out of ammunition…

Another hand reached in, but instead of trying to reach one of them, it just grasped the sides of the hole and tugged. The door creaked and groaned with the force of it. For a moment it seemed as if it would hold, and then it was ripped from its hinges with an explosion of sound.

Mary got off a few rounds of her gun before the monsters started streaming into the tunnel. She grabbed the Angel blade Dean had handed her earlier and snarled. “Let's get to work!”


	22. Cas

The whole room was a white noise of chaos as Castiel watched the spear enter Dean’s chest in slow motion. 

“Dean!” Castiel screamed as Dean collapsed in his arms on his way to the ground. It took all of Cas’s strength not to immediately rip the offending spear out of Dean’s chest. Would he be able to heal Dean in time if he did? What did an Archangel-killing spear do to a human being? Cas held Dean carefully, trying not to bump the spear but grasping it just the same to keep it still and reduce the strain of gravity. His other hand ran clinically up Dean’s back, quickly finding what he was looking for. The spear had gone all the way through — it’s double blades dripping blood onto the floor. Cas searched Dean’s face which was tight with pain, but also held a hint of relief. 

“You …. Ok?” Dean coughed out. 

Of course Cas wasn’t ok. And not because of the blood now flowing freely down his arm where the spear had cut him. “No! I’m not ok, Dean. You have a spear in your chest!” Cas hissed, feeling the blood start to drip down his fingers. The spear was holding in most of the damage, for now. 

Dean coughed and tried to shrug but winced in pain instead. 

Logically, Castiel knew that there was an argument going on behind him, that Sam and Rowena had moved to stand in between them and the threat, but all he could see was Dean _dying?_ in his arms. “Don’t you die on me Dean Winchester, I will storm Heaven and bring your soul right back here.”

Dean half grinned at him “you say the….sweetest things…”

The spear needed to be removed, Castiel only hoped he could heal Dean fast enough afterwards. There would be no breaking the blade in half - and breaking the staff wouldn’t help as the hilt would cause more damage than the blade already had. There was no other choice. 

“I need to remove the spear to heal you. It will hurt,” Cas said his face in a tight line. 

Dean looked up at him, blurry but trusting. “Do it.” 

Cas heard Sam get thrown across the room but did not waiver as he pulled on the spear, slowly, carefully, until the entire blade was free. Dean grunted and grimaced through the process but stayed awake. As soon as the blade was free, his eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out. Cas immediately dropped the spear to the floor and pushed as much of his grace as he could into Dean’s prone form. 

_Heal, by the grace of God and all that is Holy. Heal!_

He saw Rowena fly by in his peripheral vision, and heard the crack as she hit a pillar, but did not look up. Rowena would be ok. She always was. He hoped Patience had run when John, no —Michael, had attacked, that she’d gotten away. He didn’t know where Charlie or Kaia had ended up in the chaos, but he hadn’t heard them, and Michael had not come for him, yet. 

“Castiel,” he heard Michael say with John Winchester’s voice. 

Castiel ignored his brother, completely focused on healing Dean from his mortal wound. A flicker of movement from behind Dean drew his attention and his ire when he caught sight of the Reaper who had arrived to watch the proceedings. _There will be no reaping today!_ He all but shouted telepathically. _If Billie wants him, she’ll have to come claim him herself!_

The Reaper met Castiel’s eyes and nodded once before disappearing again. 

Kaia appeared suddenly by their side, but she didn’t even glance at them before she was once again out of sight, spear in hand. She would buy him precious seconds.

Never had time slowed and stretched the way it was now, a millennia passing each second Castiel’s grace flooded into Dean’s chest, as his blood flooded back out to cover Castiel’s hands. Finally, after aeons, the wound closed and Dean’s organs became whole and hale again inside him. He could feel Dean’s heart pumping and his lungs inflating. Castiel sighed with relief. Dean had lost a lot of blood but he would live. 

“Give him to me, Castiel and I will ensure he lives forever,” Michael said from above them. 

Castiel pulled Dean against his chest before turning to look up at Michael. John Winchester stood tall and domineering over Kaia’s body. Castiel fervently hoped she had just been knocked out. 

_“Never,”_ he hissed. 

“Don’t be foolish, Castiel. You are out of power.” Michael’s eyes gleamed as he leaned down to pick up Kaia’s spear. “You don’t even have enough to save yourself, let alone this mortal.”

Castiel saw movement out of the corner of his eye, but carefully did not react to it, his gaze never leaving Michael’s.

Dean stirred in his arms and Castiel squeezed his lover gently, letting him know he was there but did not shift his focus from the Archangel. 

“He will be safe and happy with me, Castiel. Never fearing for his brother, never having to fight again, just endless happy days, secure with who he is and who he’s with. What more could a man ask for? Really, it’s a gift.”

“It’s not real, Michael. It will never be real, and so he will never accept it. Not fully,” Castiel responded tightly. He knew Dean was listening now and figuring out where everyone was. Going through their options, few as they were. 

“He might if that was the only way he could see you again.” The smirk that crossed John Winchester’s face was so unnatural, and his comment so heinous, that Castiel could not contain the shudder of revulsion that ran through him. 

Dean tensed in his arms, pulling himself up into Michael’s view. “If you hurt Cas, I will never stop fighting you.” 

Castiel finally glanced at Dean and was gifted with the determined face of his lover — no, his partner and husband. Dean glanced at him for a split second and squeezed his hand — he was ready. Castiel’s heart swelled, not even a minute earlier Dean had been on death’s door and now he was ready and willing to put himself back in the line of fire. _He is amazing._ Together they stood up and faced Michael together, hand in hand. 

“Well that’s too bad, I promised your father I’d kill Castiel in exchange for use of this suit.” Michael raised a hand and Castiel was ripped from Dean’s side to float ineffectually some distance away. 

He fought with every fibre of his being to release himself from Michael’s hold but to no avail. He was no match for Michael at full power, let alone after giving up most of his grace saving Dean. Dean was snarling and swearing but seemed equally frozen to the spot. 

Michael turned away from Dean to watch Castiel. 

“My dear baby brother, so enamoured with the humans — you must be one of our father’s biggest mistakes —seeing how deeply flawed you truly are. My Castiel needed reprogramming many times until he was perfected. A process I have no interest in repeating, despite the lack of Angels in this universe. You see, you’ve caused me quite a bit of trouble.” Michael came to stand right in front of Castiel, staring at him. “It’s time you were dealt with, so I can move on to more.. profitable pursuits.”

Castiel burned with hatred at the thought of his other universe’s broken mind, and the implications of what would happen to everyone else once he was out of the way.

“Fuck you.” He snarled. “Our Father made many mistakes, but I wasn’t one of them.”

Michael laughed. 

“That’s enough now Michael. Release John.” 

“What for? Soon my army will be inside and they will slaughter all of you and release me.”

“Not if we kill you first,” Dean snarled. 

Michael’s eyes found Dean’s and he laughed again “You? Kill dear old daddy? I don’t think so.”


	23. Dean

“You will surrender to me,” Michael ordered.

“No! I will never stop fighting you!” Dean snarled at Michael.

“No, that is not true,” Michael turned his wrist slightly and Cas lit up, blue light streaming from his eyes and mouth, his face morphing into a mask of pain as the shadow of his wings appeared behind him, spread and straining. A primal scream ripped through his throat as his body arched unnaturally.

Michael turned back to Dean. “You see if you say Yes now, you can live peacefully in a world of my making, where you and Castiel can live happily ever after.” He turned his hand again, and Castiel’s whole body jerked and shook, the screaming continuing. “Or if you resist, I will make you spend eternity watching him suffer as I destroy his grace atom by atom until there is nothing left,” Michael smiled.

Dean barely heard the end of Michael’s sentence as Cas’s screams consumed him. How had he come to this place again? A place he promised Cas he would never reach again. Dean tried to shut his eyes and block out Cas’ screams but the flashes of bright light burned images of his lover’s wings into his retina and his bones reverberated with Cas’ pained cries.

“You will kill him, either way,” Dean grit out, tears rolling down his face.

“Yes, this is true. I did, after all, promise this very thing to your father. But if you say Yes, it will be quick and you won’t have to think about it again.” Michael dropped his hand and Castiel stopped screaming, the light dissipated, his eyes slipped closed and his body went lax, still suspended mid-air.

“What is your choice?” Michael asked, as Dean frantically searched Cas’s face for signs of life or movement from across the room.

“You will never hurt us again,” Sam growled from behind Michael, tears in his eyes, as he levelled The Colt at Michael’s head.

“That gun will not kill me, Sam Winchester,” Michael said without turning around.

“Maybe not, but it will slow you down and it will be very, very satisfying for me,” Sam replied and pulled the trigger.

Michael’s head snapped forward and Castiel dropped to the floor like a marionette whose strings had been cut.

As Michael jerked and twitched, Rowena started chanting. Michael’s grip on the spear loosened and then went lax, dropping the spear into Kaia’s waiting hands. The hole in John’s head slowly reformed over, until he lifted it back up, unblemished.

“Die, asshole,” Kaia snarled and thrust her spear through John’s chest.

The look of shock slowly turned into a smirk of triumph as Michael stood up straight. His limbs vibrated with the effort of pushing through Rowena’s spell, but his hands were still able to grasp the staff sticking through his torso. He pulled it out inch by inch, blood dripping down the blade and quickly soaking through his clothes on both sides.

Dean stood in shock before them — Michael and his father. He had not missed the flash of pain in his brother’s eyes, nor the strain of the spell wearing on Rowena.  
He had not missed Kaia’s bloodthirsty epithet nor the gleam in Michael’s eyes at his perceived victory.

He had missed Castiel slowly standing up, his hand out and eyes glowing blue. But it was impossible to miss the partial manifestation of Castiel’s massive black wings, the lights flashing and burning out all around them, while books shuddered and fell off their shelves. Castiel’s wings shifted in and out of the visual spectrum and consumed all of Dean’s attention. Sometimes it was easy for Dean to forget what Cas really was when he was all gummy smiles and exasperated sighs, and then he would go and do something like this, and Dean would remember to be properly terrified of Castiel, Angel of the Lord. Dean shook as the Angel walked across the room and stopped right in front of Michael.

Castiel raised a hand and placed it on Michael’s struggling but immobilized forehead.

“You have caused enough damage here, Michael. It is time you rested. I smite thee in the name of Our Father so that you will not cause any more pain.”

White light burst through Castiel’s hand and poured out of Michael’s eyes and mouth.

Dean barely had enough time to cover his eyes before the room was lit up with the burning Holy power of God.

Dean’s vision was filled with bright spots once the blinding light faded, but he managed to see the body of his father on the floor, giant ash wings scorched into the floor around him.

Nobody moved.

Castiel turned to look at each person in the group in turn. Sam stared back, his eyes wide and fearful even though his gun hand was steady, Kaia appeared to be contemplating killing Castiel, and Rowena seemed to be trying to make herself look even smaller and less threatening than usual, her eyes now back to their normal colour. Dean waited until those unknowing eyes finally met his to lean forward. He was conflicted, wanting to reach out for his lover, but also wanting to shy away from this stranger wearing Cas’s face.

“Are any of you injured?” Castiel asked.

Everyone shook their head, unable to respond out loud.

“Good,” Castiel said before the light died in his eyes and his wings flickered out of existence. He collapsed to the floor, unconscious, and Dean immediately rushed to his side.


	24. Jody

Once they ran out of bullets, Jody lead Claire and Donna down through the hatch, down the stairs, and through the halls, heading straight for the garage. Shouting could be heard from the War Room, but the sounds of battle coming from the garage were too loud to ignore. 

Knife in hand, Jody burst through the open door into the garage to find the Hunters barely holding back the horde at the foot of the stairs. The monsters swallowed up the garage, as supernatural creatures climbed over cars and each other trying to reach them. Parking cars up the ramp and all through the garage seemed to have slowed them down, but they were still outnumbering the Hunters ten, or maybe even fifteen to one. The Hunters were severely overwhelmed, far more than Jody remembered them being only a few hours prior. 

“Fall back!” she called out, and pushed her way through, taking the spot of another Hunter. She cut off the hand of a monster with a machete, its head following shortly after. The Hunter she had displaced must have been in shock, as he stood staring at her dumbly. “Get moving!” she snarled and he jumped into action fleeing through the door. 

Donna was beside her instantly, yanking one of the other new Hunters behind her and shoving the girl towards the door as well.

“Claire! Go tell the boys we’re falling back!” Jody called as she beheaded the creature in front of her. 

Claire grabbed a young Hunter and shoved him through the door. To Jody’s immense relief, Claire quickly backed out after him. 

The small circle of Hunters got smaller and smaller as more and more left the group to go through the door. After no time at all, Jody found herself shoulder to shoulder with Mary Winchester. The other woman was bleeding from a gash on her forehead and a couple of scrapes on her arms but otherwise appeared unharmed. Beside her, Bobby was definitely favouring his left side, but was still strong and stable on his feet. 

There was only a couple of feet between them and the door, but it felt like miles considering the stakes. If they turned their backs to run, they would be slaughtered. And if they didn’t get through the door fast enough, they could lose control of it and release the horde inside.

“Donna!” Jody hissed. “We need to push them back with something! Anything!”

“I got just the thing.” Donna grinned, ducking back into the Bunker for a moment before pushing her way through with a flamethrower, of all things. 

“The fuck?” Jody muttered before shouting to everyone remaining on this side of the door. “Everyone, get back, quick!”

Donna stepped forward and began to blast flames at the oncoming horde. Immediately the garage was filled with inhuman screams and hisses as flesh burned. 

Bobby hobbled out first, followed by Mary and then the remaining Hunters. Jody pulled on Donna’s shoulder, forcing her to step back as she laid a path of fire behind them. 

Finally, Jody grabbed Donna around the mid-section and hauled her backwards through the door. As she crossed the threshold Mary Winchester stepped up and threw a grenade into the garage. A bunch of Hunters all threw their weight against the door, slamming it closed before any monsters could push their way through the fire and enter the bunker. The group leaned against the door, breathing heavily as it shook with a large bang and rumble at their backs. 

“Dean’s gonna kill me if I just took out Baby,” Mary sighed.

“I hear he’s put it back together a couple of times before,” Bobby said consolingly.

“Still.”

Donna turned and beamed at Jody. The flamethrower was turned off but was still held in Donna’s hands. 

“That was fun!”


	25. Dean

“Cas!” Dean shouted and dove towards falling Angel. Cas was heavy in his arms on the ground. Dean carefully manoeuvred Cas so that he was sitting comfortably in Dean’s lap, his head on Dean’s shoulder. He wasn’t breathing.

“Castiel!” Claire shouted from across the room, fear and grief in her eyes as she spotted Cas laying unresponsive in Dean’s arms.

Dean glanced up at her, unable to comfort his not-daughter, as his own brain filled with fear and white noise. He gripped Cas tighter. “No wings, no wings, no wings” he muttered to himself. Not like the ones spread out around his father. Not like the ones he had seen on the beach not that long ago. Cas _will_ wake up. _He must. Angels don’t have heartbeats, they don’t breathe, not truly, only when they are trying not to alarm the humans around them. Cas is still warm. He’s just passed out. No wings._

Sam fell to his knees beside him. “Dean? …. Is ..he?”

“No wings, Sammy. No Wings.” Dean looked up into his brother’s eyes to see the matching fear and grief on his face. He couldn’t do it again. He _wouldn’t_ do it again. He couldn’t just watch as Cas’s body burned on the Hunter’s pyre again. Couldn’t live his life walking around in a daze of despair and grief, always searching for a shallow grave to throw himself into or a random monster to cure him of his pain. Cas was _it_ for him and there was just no going back to life without him now that Dean knew what they had. He could not go back to living in the darkness. Sam had better just shoot him now.

“Ach. The laddie’s still all there. He just needs some sleep after that pretty little firework display,” Rowena said, the normal bite of her words absent as she looked upon them sadly.

“So he will be ok?” Claire asked as she too sunk down to sit beside the Winchesters, her hands searching for a spear wound that wasn’t there.

Rowena nodded silently, before quietly saying “aye, eventually.”

Sam looked over at Claire. “Are we breached? Does the fight continue?”

Claire looked up at him abruptly, spooked. “They had fallen back to the Bunker door… I was coming to get you…”

“The fight is over. Err...Mostly.” Charlie said, walking over to the group on the floor. “When Michael went poof, most of his buddies fled. There are some holdouts both in the garage and outside, but we’re good for the most part.”

Everyone in the room relaxed except for Dean who was barely paying attention.

“Thanks Charlie,” Sam said.

“No sweat. Just glad none of you got dead.”

Sam immediately looked back at Claire. “Do we have many dead?”

Claire shrugged unhappily. “I don’t know.”

“What of Michael’s vessel?” Kaia said interrupting the conversation, her spear still aimed at the not-moving form of John Winchester.

“Is Dad alive?” Dean whispered.

Sam grimaced and moved over to check. “No.”

“We should be thorough,” Kaia insisted, brandishing her spear again.

“If you’re going to be that thorough, you’ll have to kill me as well,” Dean snarled.

“That can be arranged,” Kaia growled back.

“That’s enough!” Rowena snapped. “There’s no Archangel here. Didn’t you see the show? He’s been smited by poor Castiel here.”

Kaia bared her teeth at Rowena.

“It’s time for you to go,” Claire said lowly, her voice clear even though she was visibly shaking. ‘Leave now. Please.” Claire glanced up at Kaia, and they stared at each other for a long moment before Kaia looked away.

“I will hunt down the stragglers outside,” Kaia said before turning and walking up the stairs and out. The door slammed behind her and the main room was filled with silence once more.

“Castiel!” Jack’s call startled them as the young man raced across the room and fell to his knees beside Claire. “When they told me Castiel was down I couldn’t believe it! I didn’t want to believe it! Dean…! Sam…!” He looked back and forth between the brothers. “What do we do? What can I do?” He laid an open hand on Castiel’s chest. He bowed his head and murmured. “If only I had my powers.”

Sam reached out a hand and placed it on Jack’s shoulder. “It’s ok Jack.” He exchanged a brief look with Dean. “Or it will be. Cas will wake up.” _Soon._ He had to wake up. He _had_ to.

Jack looked at the ashen faces around him and nodded quietly.

“What is it, Rowena?” Sam asked.

Dean looked up from Castiel’s unmoving face to look at his brother and then the witch, who was definitely looking at something they couldn’t see.

“Your father… He’s arguing with a Reaper.”


	26. John

John stood over his own body, surveying the damage around him. Michael had failed to kill Castiel, failed to kill anyone in this room, failed before he had even begun his grand plan. Who knew if the distraction—horde had even really been effective. Some Archangel he’d turned out to be. Plus he had nearly killed Dean after swearing his family would be safe. John surveyed the large ash wings spreading out from his body.

His family. 

His wife had run off on another task without even saying goodbye to him in case she died. 

His own son had shot him in the head without hesitation, and now everyone here was ignoring his lifeless body in favour of fawning over that Angel, who remained unconscious in Dean’s arms. His incorporeal stomach turned. 

“It is time to go,” a voice said over his shoulder. 

John turned to look at the young lady he knew to be a Reaper. “I ain’t going anywhere while that THING remains a threat to my family,” he said pointing at Castiel. 

“And you believe you will be able to kill an Angel while in ghost form?” The Reaper asked raising an eyebrow. 

“I will figure something out!” John snarled back. 

“Or that you will somehow avoid hurting your own kin as you become vengeful?” The Reaper pressed.

“I have a purpose, and it ain’t in Heaven,” John argued. 

“You shouldn’t even be down here. Your sons will burn your body, and you will have no choice. Come with me now and save them the trouble,” the Reaper reasoned.

“I will not go!”

“Mistress, help me.” The Reaper lamented, and then paused.

“But it’s a _Winchester_ Mistress.” She said, clearly conversing with someone beyond his awareness.

Between one second and the next, a tall, imposing black woman stood beside him. While everyone but the Witch had ignored him and the Reaper, all eyes were now focused on this new arrival. 

“You can’t have him Billie!” Dean snarled, curling protectively around the Angel in his arms.

“Cool your jets, Dean. I’m not here for Castiel. And I don’t reap Angels,” she said, tersely. “I’m here for your father, who refuses to leave. I will not allow another Winchester to bend the natural law.”

Dean’s face went through a myriad of expressions at this news, but held her stare and did not look away.

Billie turned to John and looked him over from head to toe. John shifted uneasily.   
“Angel interference again?” she sighed. 

“Who are you?” John said sharply.

“Death,” came the simple reply.

“My son is on a first name basis with Death?”

Billie laughed. “Well, he certainly should be considering he got me the job in the first place!” 

_Got her the job?_

“Uhh… Billie, sorry to interrupt,” Sam started, “but do you think you could…” Sam waved his hand vaguely towards the empty space John was standing in.

“I am not an order-taker, Sam Winchester,” Billie said, but in the next moment, Sam’s eyes were finally focusing on John. 

Just then Jody, Donna, Mary and Bobby rushed into the room, knives drawn. 

Sam raised his hand calmingly and they slowed, lowering their weapons.

Mary went straight to Dean and Castiel, a question in her eyes as she touched Castiel’s shoulder and Dean’s back. 

“He’s…ok…I think. Billie’s not here for him.” Dean gestured towards Death.

“Oh, ok.” Mary’s eyes wandered to the body of her husband on the floor, ash wings stretching out from his form, and the slightly transparent version of him standing beside it. 

“John? What’s going on here?”

“Mary! I was just trying to get rid of the threats to our family,” he groused. 

Mary raised an eyebrow at him and gestured to his fallen body. “You wanted to get rid of an Angel by saying Yes to an Archangel? John! We talked about this!”

“That thing!” John pointed at Castiel, “is using some poor schmuck’s body to coerce, manipulate and hurt our sons! He’s defiling Dean!”

“That’s not true,” Claire cut in. “This is Castiel’s body, made for him special by God himself.” She paused and Jody stepped forward to squeeze her shoulder in support. “My father’s body was destroyed nearly a decade ago, and his soul went to heaven…. Where he belongs.” She glared at John. “Unlike some people who think they can just stick around making everyone upset while they pass judgement on things they don’t understand!”

“Claire,” Jody cautioned, but Claire continued. 

“Castiel does his best to be there for me even though he doesn’t have to. Him, and Sam and Dean… had they not brought me to Jody, I…” Jody knelt down and put her arm around Claire, Claire quickly covering Jody’s hand with her own. 

“It hasn’t always been easy, trusting Cas. And it’s not like there haven’t been bumps in the road,” Sam continued for Claire, “but he would do anything for us, and we for him. He’s family.”

“He’s more than that,” Dean growled, “so much more than that.” John watched as his eldest fortified himself, squaring his shoulders and taking a deep breath. “He’s the love of my fucking life, Dad. And I refused to let us be happy for _years_ because of _your_ voice in my head telling me I was wrong, and worthless, and….” 

_Love of his life??_ John was struck dumb as the buzzing in his head grew louder and the rest of Dean’s sentence was lost. 

Dean’s attention and anger faded away as the Angel stirred in his arms. 

“Hey there, Sunshine,” Dean said quietly, a small smile pulling at his lips as his eyes filled with tears. 

“Dean?” Castiel croaked, his voice raw. “Are you ok?” he lifted a hand to cup Dean’s face. 

“What—”

Dean silenced him with a soft kiss, before pressing more kisses against Cas’s nose and eyes and cheeks and lips again. “Nothing’s wrong. Everything is fine now. I promise everything is good. I love you so goddamn much.”

If John still had skin, it would be crawling. 

Castiel smiled back at Dean. “I love you too.” He then looked at everyone else gathered around and sat up straighter. Dean did not let go of him, just shifted to what looked like a more comfortable position.

“Well, at least it seems my letting Mamma Winchester roam free has enabled her to hug some of the toxic masculinity out of you boys. Good for you. Too bad it seems like Daddy here never got that memo.” Billie remarked with a drawl. 

“Billie?” Castiel asked.

“You Winchesters are so dramatic.” She replied rolling her eyes. “I’m just here for him.” She hooked a thumb in John’s direction. 

“This is not the son I raised!” John said pointing angrily at Dean. “He’s a red-blooded womanizer! He is not gay!” His face was turning red with anger, in spite of his ghostly form. 

“Nope. I’m not. I’m bi.” Dean said levelly. “Have been all my life. Long before Cas saved me from Hell, long before you died, in fact.”

“But!” 

“I think that’s enough, John,” Bobby said stepping forward.

John glared at Bobby and Bobby glared back. What did he know anyways?

John looked around the room, and everyone was looking at him with the same distrust, the same pity. Even his Mary. Bobby placed a hand on her shoulder and she looked up at the double of man who used to be his friend with a look she’d used to give him. 

Had he still been in his body, he would have fallen to his knees. This world was so incomprehensible, so wrong, so corrupted. Corrupted to its very core. He watched as Dean and the Angel stood up together, still holding hands and leaning on each other for support. He saw Claire, Jack and Mary hover around them, concerned. He saw the hard, judgemental eyes of Jody, Donna, Charlie, Bobby, Rowena and Patience watching him watch them. This was not a fight he could win. 

Sam stepped towards John, partially obscuring his view of Dean and Castiel.

“You should go,” Sam said, the challenge in his voice unmistakable. _We will fight, and you will lose._

John watched his youngest for a moment. _When had he become so strong?_

“Fine.” John huffed and turned his attention back to Death . “Take me back to heaven. Everything made sense there at least.”

Billie laughed. “As if you had a choice. Why do all of the Winchesters think they have the right to negotiate with me, or order me around?” She shook her head and snapped her fingers, and the scene before him faded out.


	27. Dean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sexytimes ensue, and plot...because whenever I write the boys they can't seem to stop talking before, during and after! XD Also sap. So, so much fluffy sap. I apologize for nothing!

“Are you sure you’re ok?” Dean asked as they closed their door to the rest of the Bunker. After the ordeal with Michael and John, the rest of their family had brushed off their attempts to help clean up. They were banished to their room and told to rest and recuperate (and keep it down!) It didn’t sit well with Dean to be benched, but seeing Cas’s unmoving form again had shaken him to the core. Death seemed to follow the two of them around, and that was even before they were on a first name basis with her.

“Yes, Dean,” Cas said before crushing their mouths together. Cas’s hands were everywhere, in his hair, down his back, along his arms, and stroking his chest where he had been impaled. “Off!” Cas demanded and pulled at Dean’s flannel and tshirt until Dean’s skin was revealed to him. He ran his hands up and down Dean’s chest and pulled their mouths apart so he could check with his eyes.

“You healed me. I’m good.” Dean said lifting Cas’s chin up so he could stare into those deep blue eyes, unmarred by pain or holy power. Cas held still, letting Dean search. Dean finally relented and kissed Cas, pulling at his clothing as he did so, he needed to feel Cas’s warm skin, and the rise of his chest as he breathed - and he breathed just for Dean.

“I’m good. I promise,” Cas murmured, his hands sliding up and down Dean’s chest.

Dean gasped into Cas’s mouth, as his nipples hardened under Cas’s touch. Dean pulled Cas closer to him by his belt loops.

“Maybe we should get you some flannel and a pair of jeans, Mr. Winchester,” Dean teased.

Cas flashed him a dopy, happy smile. “I think that can be arranged, Mr. Winchester.”

Cas ground his hips into Dean’s and they both moaned with the delicious friction.

“Maybe later though,” Dean murmured as Cas stroked him once through the rough fabric before unzipping his fly. Instead of releasing him from his jeans, however, Cas’s clever fingers caressed Dean’s hips and dipped under the top of his jeans to squeeze and knead his ass. Dean shuddered into Cas’s mouth as one of his fingers brushed by his entrance.

“Definitely later... Right now I want to take care of you. Such good care of you,” Cas murmured into his ear before tonguing it.

Slowly Cas knelt, kissing down Dean’s body and gently pulling the jeans down his legs, lips brushing against the exposed skin as he went. Dean lifted one foot and then the other as guided. Cas looked up at Dean with lust-blown eyes before rubbing his stubbled cheek against Dean’s erection, still trapped in the soft cotton of his boxer briefs. Dean swallowed hard, and his hands clenched once before they buried themselves in Cas’s wild hair. Cas mouthed his cock before slowly pulling the boxer briefs down and off, Dean’s erection bobbed free.

Cas kissed the tip of Dean’s cock before lavishing it with his tongue. Dean moaned as Cas ran his tongue from the tip to the base, one hand cradling Dean’s balls gently, the other stroking Dean’s ass. He sucked the head into his mouth, swirling his tongue around before swallowing and pulling Dean in deeper.

Cas slowly pulled off, sucking and licking all the way to the head before releasing Dean with a pop and a smile.

Dean reached for Cas, pulling him up so that they could kiss again. Deans’ hands wrapped around Cas’s torso hugging him tightly. Cas hugged back. After a long moment, Dean let go just enough to run his hands down Cas’s body and squeeze his ass, then moved around the front to stroke Cas through his pants before undoing them. Once they were both naked they stared hungrily at each other for a long moment, drinking in all of that whole and healthy skin.

“Come to bed.” Cas pulled on Dean’s hand lightly, leading him away from the door.

Dean nearly pitched forward when they made it to the bed, his knees already weak. He got his hands out in time to catch himself, rolling over and reaching out for Cas. Cas sunk into Dean’s embrace, aligning their bodies perfectly. Their tongues danced while they lazily rutted against each other. The pull and drag of their cocks was sublime.

Cas’s fingers drifted up Dean’s arms and across his shoulders, his fingers rubbing soothing circles down his back. Dean felt his shoulders relax under the tender ministrations.

“Tell me what you want, Dean,” Cas whispered.

“… You… I want you….” Dean replied between kisses, one hand buried in Cas’s hair, the other caressing Cas’s back and sides.

“You have me,” Cas said.

“Inside.”

“Anything, Beloved.” Cas reached into the top drawer for the lube and placed it beside them. He ran his hands down Dean’s sides and back, fingers brushing over his hole, teasingly.

“Cas!” Dean moaned, as he pushed back into Castiel’s fingers, frustrated by the lack of direct contact.

“Patience,” Cas murmured and continued his explorations, lightly brushing over and circling where Dean wanted to be touched the most. So lost in the sensations, Dean didn’t even hear Castiel open the lube, but arched half off the bed when one of Cas’s slick fingers finally pushed against his hole. The tight ring of muscle immediately relaxed, granting Cas’s finger access. He massaged Dean’s rim and passage, slowly stretching him open.

“I want to taste you,” Cas whispered.

Dean moaned, did Cas have any idea what it did to him when he spoke like that?

Cas manhandled Dean onto his front on the bed, before Cas ran his hands down his back again, his fingers flowing from Dean’s shoulders to his hips, and his ass before continuing down his thighs and calves.

“So beautiful,” Cas whispered before he pushed Dean’s legs apart, ran his hands up the insides of Dean’s thighs, and spread his cheeks apart before licking a broad strip across Dean’s hole.

Dean whimpered.

Cas licked and sucked on his entrance, pushing his tongue inside.

Then Cas’s maddening fingers were back– not one but two pushing inside Dean, massaging and stretching him, along with the wet slide of Cas’s tongue.

Dean saw stars and muttered incoherently when Cas found his prostate. The bastard kept finger fucking him slowly, brushing against his prostate enough to make him crazy but not enough to let him come. Dean’s cock was creating a wet spot beneath him, and it was all he could do to not rut into the mattress. Just when he thought he couldn’t take it anymore Cas added another finger. Dean nearly lost it right there.

Just as suddenly as the third finger was added, Cas’s tongue and all of his fingers were suddenly removed without warning. Dean cried out with the loss of contact and the empty feeling that remained. But then Cas was there behind him, pressing kisses to the side of his face.

Dean reached behind and pulled Cas flush against him, both of them moaning with the contact. Cas thrust along the seam of Dean’s ass, the head of his cock catching on Dean’s hole every couple of strokes.

“Cas,” Dean moaned.

“The whole Bunker…. can’t hear you…yet” Castiel said smugly.

“Bastard,” Dean grunted.

Cas indulged both of them for a moment longer before he pulled away and turned Dean over again. Cas’s casual use of his angelic strength was hot as fuck.

Cas leaned down and kissed Dean deeply, pulling Dean’s legs over his hips.  
Cas rocked against him, his erection brushing against Dean’s entrance again.

“Cas,” Dean growled, “no more teasing. Fuck me. Please.”

Cas smirked at him and thrust inside in one stroke, causing them both to still and to moan loudly. For a moment they just breathed into each other’s mouths and drowned in the sensation of being connected.

Once they had gained back some semblance of control, they rocked together, Cas thrusting slowly and deeply into Dean, Dean’s hips rocking up against Cas’s hips. Dean couldn’t get enough of Cas’ strong hands on his body, his cock filling him up and making him complete.

“… Can I see them?”

Cas blinked down at him, confused momentarily, before he smiled and nodded. A moment later the Angel’s massive wings manifested around them, shifting in and out of the visual spectrum and stretching the width of the room. Dean had never seen them so up close before, and nearly wept in awe of them. He reached out and then hesitated, looking at Cas for permission. Cas nodded.

Dean tentatively touched one wing before caressing it gently. The feathers were soft and very real despite the fact that his eyes were having trouble pinning them down. What was really amazing was the blissed out look on Cas’s face that Dean’s action had caused. Dean stroked the wing again, running his fingers through each of the feathers and Cas shuddered and moaned.

Dean barely had time to memorize Cas’s euphoric expression before the Angel had wrapped his hand around Dean’s straining erection between them and started to stroke it. He also shifted his angle, each thrust hitting his prostate, just so. It was all too much.

“Come for me, Dean.”

Dean came and his vision went as white as the Holy light Cas had channeled earlier. The after image of Cas’s wings burned into his retina, not as an ashen scar, but as an Angelic brand of life and trust and beauty. Tears streamed down Dean’s face, shaking and screaming out Castiel’s name in benediction.

His climax felt endless, spurts of cum continuing to cover his chest and his chin. When Dean finally came back to himself, he found his hands buried in the wings above him. Cas’s eyes had dilated impossibly further, until only a sliver of blue remained. Cas leaned forward and captured Dean’s lips in a kiss while still slowly thrusting into him.

Dean released his hold on Cas’s wings and ran his fingers through the feathers again. Cas moaned and his hips stuttered against Dean. His thrusts became faster and more frantic before he too came deep inside, calling out Dean’s name.

Cas collapsed onto Dean, and Dean held him close, his hands still running through those magnificent wings, causing Cas to shudder and twitch. Slowly Cas pulled out of Dean’s body and moved to the side. One of his wings brushed against Dean’s skin and then disappeared into the ether.

“I told you you would scream my name,” Cas said with a smile, wrapping his arms around the Hunter.

“Asshole…” Dean muttered and curled into Cas, finding himself clean and dry.

“I’m so proud of you for standing up to your father today,” Cas continued as if this was just as acceptable a comment as the one about screaming.

“Ugh. Cas. We need to work on your pillowtalk”

“I mean it.”

“I know. I’m sorry I didn’t do it sooner.” Dean sighed.

Cas kissed him soundly and ran his hands up and down Dean’s back comfortingly.

“Nonsense. It was an incredible thing to have to deal with, to conflate the old you with the new, to want to connect with your father and still be true to yourself. I’m so very proud to be your husband.”

Dean had no words, so kissed Cas hard instead of responding. When he finally pulled back, Cas’ eyes were filled with compassion.

“I’m so sorry that you lost him again so soon after being reunited. I know it was never easy between you, but despite that you loved him very much.”

“Thanks Cas,” Dean said quietly, choked up with emotion.

“You are amazing.”

“And you’re a sap. I wasn’t the one who smited an Archangel today,” Dean argued back running his fingers through Cas’s hair.

“That’s not entirely true.”

“What?”

“It was your love, our love, that finally unlocked the power my father gave me,” Cas said solemnly.

“Really?” Dean said in disbelief.

“Really, really Dean. It seems Father was betting on us as well. We had finished hiding how we felt, and had openly expressed our desire to love and be loved, to cherish and protect one another. So that when we faced a great evil and hate, something opened and bloomed inside of me, and I knew I could do it. So I did. So really, _we_ smited an archangel today,” Cas said sincerely before his mouth curled into a smirk, “From a certain point of view.”

Dean laughed into Cas’ collarbone. “That’s what I get for showing you Star Wars.”

Cas grinned.

“Those wings are fucking amazing by the way,” Dean said and then paused and smirked, waggling his eyebrows “amazing for fucking too.”

Cas rolled his eyes, but Dean didn’t miss the blush creeping up his face.

“They really do it for you, huh?”

Cas nodded. “I haven’t had anyone touch them before…”

“Well then. Can’t let my husband continue to be so deprived.” Dean grinned.

Cas grinned back. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”


	28. Cas

Castiel shuffled into the kitchen in bare feet and pyjama pants, on the hunt for coffee. He had grown fond of the drink, mostly because he associated it with Dean making it for him. This morning, however, Dean was up and bustling around, trying to help out with whatever clean up hadn’t been completed the night before when the two of them had been unceremoniously shooed off to bed.

“Mornin’ Cas,” Sam said with a smile.

“Good morning, Sam, Mary, Bobby. Where is—”

A screech cut through Castiel’s greeting and everyone tensed, turning to look for the source of the sound.

Donna and Jody hurried into the kitchen, guilty looks on their faces.

“Dean made it to the garage,” Jody explained quickly, trying to waylay the room of Hunters that were already half out of their seats.

Sam raised an eyebrow, while Mary and Bobby quickly sat down again and stared at their food as if it was the most interesting thing they’d ever eaten.

“Between the uglies, the grenade, and the flamethrower…” Donna shrugged letting the implication stand.

All eyes turned to Castiel, and he felt a chill go down his spine. _Shit, Baby._ Images of the impala burned up and torn apart flashed across his mind, and Dean filled with despair and pain and anger. He felt sick. Castiel leaned heavily against the island. He could fix this. Restore Baby immediately back to her pristine condition. But would Dean let him? Or would he refuse and spend the next six months in pain while he fixed her manually? Cas shut his eyes tightly, a sob nearly breaking through.

Then a strong hand was on his shoulder and he looked up into Sam’s eyes. “Hey Cas, it’s ok. Dean will be ok. Baby will be ok. Go fix her, and bring your husband back here to enjoy breakfast with us.”

“Husband?!” Mary, Bobby, Donna, and Jody exclaimed, looking back and forth between Sam and Castiel.

“Errr…” Castiel looked around the room at the expectant faces of _his family._ He savoured the feeling of those words for a moment before the very real and very urgent situation brought him back to the present.

“I’ll umm…be right back.” He strode out of the kitchen without looking back.

 

~

 

He bumped into Dean running down the hallway, the Hunter’s face a mix of fear and pain. “Cas! Cas, oh thank Chuck, Baby! I … please come help! it’s Baby. Baby… she’s-”

Castiel wrapped his arms around him and held on tight, thankful Dean had asked for help. “Breathe Dean. I am right here. Of course I will help you with Baby.”

Dean nearly collapsed in his arms with relief.

They quickly walked back to the garage, and Castiel was stunned to see the amount of damage it had incurred. Not a single spot seemed to be without a blackened mark, a deep gouge, or a piece of shrapnel sticking from it. Not to mention all the dried blood.

He quickly moved through the debris to Baby’s charred and broken side. All of the windows were gone, two of the doors and the hood smashed in so badly it was a wonder he couldn’t see the concrete floor through her.

“Oh, Baby,” he crooned at her and gingerly lay a hand on her door frame. The roof had gouges in it that could only have been caused by a pissed off monster getting revenge on the car in Dean’s absence. Cas let his grace flow through him and into the car that was an armoury, a sanctuary and a family member all rolled into one.

A moment later she was whole and pristine and beautiful as ever. Dean wrapped his arms around Castiel from behind and buried his face into the back of his neck. Castiel squeezed Dean’s arms and gave his lover a moment to collect himself.

“Thanks, Cas,” Dean said, his voice raw with emotion.

“Of course, Beloved,” Castiel said before turning in Dean’s arms so he could hug him properly. “Now we must go back to the kitchen, our family is waiting for an explanation.”

Dean’s face went from grateful to confusion to joy. “ _Our family,_ Cas?”

“I do believe that’s what happens when you say Yes and agree to marry someone, what’s mine is yours and yours is mine.”

“So it is.” Dean grinned "I think I’ll pass on yours. They have a habit of messing things up.”


	29. Dean

The kitchen was a flurry of activity when Dean and Cas returned. Alex, Claire, Patience and Jack all had bowls of cereal in front of them, Jody, Donna, Charlie and Rowena were drinking coffee and chatting with Sam and Max, who had turned up in the early hours of the morning, covered in ghoul guts and requesting a shower and a cup of coffee. Mary was standing at the counter talking with Bobby.

“Dean!” Mary called “What’s this I hear you got married and didn’t tell anyone?” The implied _“Me”_ at the end of her sentence clear as day. The entire kitchen stilled to listen.

_Oh shit. Mom._ “Well, you see...” Dean started, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck, the other grabbing hold of Castiel’s hand. “I would have…”

“Yesterday, Dean graciously offered me his name, his love and a place beside him for the rest of his life, and I humbly accepted,” Cas cut in. Dean sent him a grateful look. “Moments after that, he nearly died, then I nearly died, and then John died. And then we were shooed away to bed.”

“Yeah, we know that part” Charlie snarked. “I’m two doors away and I could hear you going at it like you were right there next to me. I can only imagine what everyone else heard.”

Dean felt his face heat. He glanced over at Cas, who sent him a smug look before returning his attention to their family.

“So it wasn’t as if we were purposefully keeping it from you.”

“Yeah, what Cas said.” Dean grinned. “And that’s Castiel _Winchester_ to y’all.”

The whole room was silent for a moment before it exploded in movement and sound as people cheered and came up to hug and congratulate them.

“We should celebrate. Have a party,” Jody suggested over the commotion.

“Ugh! No! No parties!” Dean whined.

“Come on you two, you practically owe us a party after last night,” Sam said, “in fact, we could all use a chance to relax and unwind.”

“Say Yes!” Claire begged, grinning.

Dean and Cas looked at each other and then at their family, smiles on their faces, before answering in unison.

“ _Yes_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End! 
> 
> I really hope everyone enjoyed my take on John Winchester's return to Supernatural! (I'm sure it won't go this well in canon on Thursday...). Please drop me a kudos or a comment if you liked it~ It's such an amazing thing to know that someone read and enjoyed something I wrote and that for a short period of time we were able to connect over our love of these characters and this show. <3 
> 
> Thank you again to [Spandwiches](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spandwiches/pseuds/spandwiches) for all of her love, support and beta'ing! You are the best Beta and GISH Co-Captain a girl could have~


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